Insert Game Title Here: Gotta Cheer 'em All!
by FerreTrip
Summary: A trio of new teenage Agents enters their leader's fave show, with 3 new Ouendan going as well. Not only are they stuck, but people in the show need help, and it seems sum'n' bad's goin' down in PokéWorld...MISSION COMPLETE! R&R'd be greatly appreciated!
1. Lights & Sounds : Prologue

(1)( ) (The) (First) (Taste)

The last time I got on stage to sing was for a talent show, where, as soon as I began, someone in the audience starting booing. Immediately. I knew it to be somebody who LOOOOVED annoying me. Because I'm different. I'm weird. And I love music so much, I'd probably become a marauder (is that the right word?) for it. This person had a group of friends, and they started to boo at me, too. For some inexplicable reason, everyone else started to laugh and boo at me along with. I just said one thing into the mic, "Fuck you," and went off stage in tears.

I'm in chorus, but...nobody wants to hear me sing. Except the director. Him and a couple of my friends, Jordan and Barry. And I also like to dance, those two friends included. And, like every single human being on the planet, even the pros, I get laughed at by at least fifty people for the way I dance. I and my friends believe that we CAN sing, but it's just nobody wants to hear us because we're the ones to make fun of. You don't cheer on the weird kid, or else, God forbid, you feel good inside and people look at you like a massive glob of something that crawled out from the toilet.

I thought my life was going no place. My friends did, too. We loved music, but nobody cared. Nobody wanted to watch and hear us perform. And I had a strong belief that, if they really were in need of it, music would be able to fill people with enough energy to easilly overcome any task they have in front of them. And I know that if I could be able to do that for people, I'd be satisfied in all aspects. But at that time in my life, it was anything but. Until THEY came...

Me, Jordan, and Barry were at school one day at an assembly. I, Gregory, am a tannish-skinned person with short, messy brown hair, taper-pointed wedge eyebrows, green eyes, and a small hint of a moustache visible. I always wear my house key on a blue, yellow star-patterned lanyard that I've had since 5th grade around my neck. I'm all skin and bones, and am of average height. My friend Jordan is a very slightly taller white person with straight, short, blonde hair and blue eyes. He has some pretty thick eyebrows, but a kind face. He was kinda-sorta very miniscully chubby, but could still move like it was nothing. Barry was black and had a huge afro and brown eyes, and had the thinnest eyebrows of us. He was about my height and was the strongest of us, but you wouldn't notice unless he actually flexed them that he had muscle. He wore a single gold hoop in his left ear.

But anyway, me, Jordan, and Barry were at school one day at an assembly. A HORRIBLE assembly. Some guys were talking about the different crimes people have been doing lately. They were police officers, it appeared.

"For instance," one said, and he and the others held up weird cannon-looking things, "some crooks have stolen a bunch of these experimental weapons that have been developed to harden any substance to the consistancy of stone. They take a while to charge up, but they're lethal."

Something in my gut told me something was up. I whispered to my friends, "This doesn't look exactly unsuspicious, does it?" They shook their heads.

And, lo and behold, the guys aimed the guns suddenly at the doors and fired a beam of energy at them to seal them in stone. The multitude of "officers" produced like guns and aimed them at the audience. "EVERYBODY FREEZE!!" the guy with the mic ordered. "We're gonna take all your money, credit cards, and lunch PINs!"

Everyone gasped. Some screamed for help. Some just screamed. Then, one of the crooks shot some people. And this was enough. The last straw that broke the camel's back.

I couldn't take it. The food had been crummy that day; I bumped my head getting out of bed, which I was late to do; I forgot all my books for a class; and now THIS. A boring assembly, and then a stick-up?! With every fiber of my being, I shouted to the heavens,

"HHEEAAAAALLLLLP!!"

A number of others screamed this, too, with equal vehemence.

And, after a few moments, our cries was answered. While everyone was depressed from the situation, about to give up, we heard, as if by magic, a sound of jets. A few of us looked up instinctivly, then gasped at the sight we beheld. CRASH!! Through the large windows high on the opposite wall came three men in jetpacks. They pulled up at the last moment and cut their engines. They landed in a trianglular figure, with a white, red afro-wearing, serious-looking man on the right; a black, hat-wearing, also-afroed smiling man on the left; and a white, orange pompadour-sporting man in the middle. All three were dressed in black two-piece suits with sunglasses, white shirts and black ties underneath. The middle man thrust out a badge towards the audience. And amazingly, while this was happening, we began to hear--over the PA system, it seemed--the start of a song. "Lights and Sounds," by Yellowcard, we recognized. Then, the men started swinging their upper bodies side-to-side, arms in the air. We began to become full of energy, full of hope, and we began to do the same. 'What on--?!' I couldn't help but think during this.

"""Are you ready?...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

"Hello you...how was the rest...You made it through...But nevertheless..." They began to sing.

While they went through the first verse, we all mobbed around the criminals and tried to take their guns from them. We did so sucessfully, evading every blast through teamwork and the feirce spirit we felt full of. We glanced at the men in black sometimes, seeing them dancing as they sang. Their performance stirred us even more.

The chorus! "Stop! Turn! Take a look arou-ound...At all the Lights and Sou-ounds...Let 'em bring you in..." Many of us dashed and pounded the stone-struck doors. The chorus ended to us making a big dent in the doors.

But then, disaster struck.

We weren't distracting them enough, and the criminals brought the music to an abrupt end. They shot the trio. Right before the next verse went into its good part(after "Smile big for everyone, Even when you know what they've done"). Everyone stopped and gasped, turning. The main gunman held his weapon up. "Now, everyone, enough of this stupidity, and let's just get this over with the easy way!" he ordered annoyedly, aiming at people.

But me, Barry, and Jordan weren't going to take it. We noticed the microphones were unchecked. We noticed that the blasts DID take a while to reload. And we noticed that nobody was guarding the stage directly. So, after a quick, unspoken glance at one another and an agreeing nod, we three teens (heh) snuck onto it. We picked up the three mics, dropped by the men in black, got into our own brave formation, and I, the unofficial lead, began, "They gave you the end...But not where to start..." They joined with me, "Not how to build, how to tear it apart!"

The crooks noticed us singing immediately.

"What the--?!" their leader gawked, surprised. He sneered. "Are you STUPID?! Get 'im!!" he ordered, and the rest of the gang tried to get to us, cursing that their guns still were recharging.

Meanwhile, our classmates and teachers turned to us. We began to dance to the song we knew by heart. We sang with more confidence. "So tell it all, Fill up the air, But make it loud, 'cuz nobody's there!!" we sang proudly. I felt something come from my very being...something strong, familiar, and yet alien...It was like a unique sort of flame within that had always burned, but had never burned this way before...I hid my surprise as best I could, but after glancing at my "backups," I noticed that Jordan and Barry were trying to hide something, as well. And then, to our surprise, we heard the guitar riffs that came next play over the PA system. But that only inspired us to sing and dance even more. "But nobody's the-eeere!!"

And, copying what we observed from the men in black, we danced the chorus and sang. And when we didn't know what to do for some parts, we ad libbed with near-magical syncronization. The crowd cheered and, full of enthusiasm once more, went on again with their rebellion. The guns were wrenched out of the crooks' hands by the end of that chorus, which was itself full of wrestling. People were also cheering us on during it, as well. Us! Laughing stocks!! Maybe it was just because they needed it, but we were still being cheered for performance.

Then, the quiet part came. At that time, it was a big problem that arouse: The main guy pulled out TWO cannons from somewhere. He focused on the crowd first. "Get a load of THIS, kidletts!!" he laughed maniacally, and pressed a button on each. Immediately, both cannons changed Transformers-style into gargantuan bazookas in his hands. The rest of our high school yiped and cowered, and we knew that they needed the motivation that we were obviously giving them. But, despite our performing, we just couldn't do it alone, it appeared.

That's when I heard another voice join mine, a few measures into the next singing part. "I've got a way to work this out, I've got a way and you know how..." I turned, and, to my amazement, the lead for the black-suited men was breaking his stone prison! And just getting back yet still singing! The other two followed, and the three produced spare mics. But like good musicians, we just kept singing in our group, singing along with the professionals.

"I've got a way to work this out, I've got a way and you know how, I've got a way to work this out, I've got a waaaayyyy...I've got a way to work this out! I've got a way and YOU KNOW HOW! I've got a way to work this out!! I'VE GOT A WAAAAY!!" By the time the chorus came again, the crazy guy was de-gunned, and they had begun to run. And for the latter fact, he and the others had a crowd of angry, energized teens and facaulty powered by the performance of six singers and dancers to deal with.

Stop! Turn!

Take a look around

At all the lights and sounds

Let them bring you in!

Slow! Burn!

Let it all fade out

And pull the curtain down

Wonder where you've been!

They didn't have a single chance.

You've earned

Everything you've found

And painted faces frown

I said I knew you when...

The song ended. The REAL cops had by now come in and gotten the crooks. Everyone who was turned to stone had broken free thanks to our performance. ALL the stone broke around the room, and the old school assembly hall was restored. It was a happy ending. And we all just stood there, smiling at our work. Amazed at the fact we were being clapped for. Applause! True, heart-felt, glorious applause! It was WONDERFUL! And amazing..."Our...Our performance helped to do THIS...?" I asked nobody incredulously. 'Im...impossible...can it be true that...?'

"You bet," the man said behind me in a friendly, somewhat cocky voice, and I turned to see the three men and their smiling faces looking at us. The pompadour man showed us his badge, which was like a police badge with a top ID card and the actual badge on the bottom, and we read: "Elite Beat Agents: BA-2 Agent 'J'". Atop it was a signiture and below the ranking was a photo of J.

He closed it and grinned. "We're the Elite Beat Agents," he said, "a group of talented performers who help people through the power of song and dance. And you three," he said, pointing at us all, "are most definitely eligible for this job. Not many people can trigger the effect our singing and dancing does without the use of one of our badges directly, which allows the instrumental part to be heard by the target. YOU triggered it at a distance. And that's GREAT!" He and the other two came over and held their hands out to us in unison. "Come with us, and you'll be able to sing and dance for people in need all over!" he offered.

Smiling in joy, me, Jordan, and Barry looked at one another, and then back at them. We nodded and took their hands.

Suddenly, we had to clutch for our lives as their jetpacks started up without warning. Everyone clapped as we left. We exited through the hole the agents had made before, the only wound still remaining in the building. "YIPE!" I squeaked, and J chuckled.

"We've got ya, don't worry," he assured us, laughing, and I believed him. He was friendly-voiced. In a few moments, we were on a black helicopter. The jetpacks were shut down, and we strapped in as the pilot raced off with us.

On the flight, I asked J, "But what about school? We've still got that."

J smiled again. "Don't worry," he said, "we can work your schedule around it. And we'll even help with any homework you need done so that you can get to training with us faster!" he added, laughing.

We got to the base in record time. I was amazed at how fast that we got there--really felt like it wasn't even an hour, but I had a feeling that I wasn't in my state, even, anymore. But, then, well, the windows were covered up after a while, so I just relied on my gut instinct. We got off the helicopter to find ourselves inside a building somewhere. The copter must have gone through an opening in the ceiling instead of landing on a pad outdoors. I looked and, lo and behold, a HUGE garage-style door took up a great deal of real estate on the ceiling. J called us, and we followed the three uniformed mystery-men performers down some corridors here, through a few doors there, and all the way into a large room with the hum from many moniters and blips and beeps from a bunch of control panels. 'Must be the control room,' I thought, looking about my new surroundings.

Seated in a chair with his back to us sat a man with grey, short, in fact sorta combover hair. He was looking at screens showing scenes of people having rough times, as well as some other agent trioes doing different songs and dances. I couldn't hear how well they were doing. I noticed, too, that each screen showing a performing group of agents had another screen above it that showed how their target was doing. Agent J stopped us and then stepped forward with his teammates.

There was silence, and then, suddenly, the man spun around in his chair and got to a standing position while he turned his upper body, with his leading arm extending into a thumbs-up, and shouted an enthusiastic, "YEEEAAAHH!!"

"Mission Complete!" J and his teammates proudly declared in response.

We saw that the old man was actually more aging than old, with a proud moustache and few, but existent, creases on his brow. He had a largish build to him, and he wore a military uniform. We saw he had six stars on each shoulder pad, and he had an enormous amount of medals, as proven by the grid of multiple colors on his left brest. Above it was a giant yellow star. He had stars on each sleeve near the cuff, and a star on his black tie. And, like everyone here, it appeared, he wore sunglasses. These were those huge ones police or highway patrol officers wear. The man sat again, a serious expression on his face as he rested his arms on a desk in front of him, steepled his fingers and rested his chin on it. "And I see the new recruits behind you," he said in a confident, serious, commanding voice that was very clear and strong.

Agent J nodded (his redhead pompadour bouncing up and down) and the three agents sidestepped quickly to get us out in the opening. We paled and froze.

The man made a small "Hmm." at this. Then, as if he were one of the band's drum majors, he shouted, "DE-tail, A-ten-HUT!"

""HUT!"" Jordan and I, veterns of marching band(he a trombone, I a trumpet that actually PRACTICES), responded, getting into the attention position perfectly from a normal position as best as we could. As scared as we were being in front of someone with obvious power, the horrors of Band Camp that were drilled into our bloodstreams had allowed us to respond to that command immediately no matter what. Even if we were talking to the president, should we hear that command, we would instantly bring our right fist, cupping our left hand over it, a set distance from our nose, stand up straight, and bring our left foot ONLY to our right in doing so. Meanwhile, although we dared not stop looking right forward, me and Jordan knew that poor Barry was confused. We heard him scramble into an attempt to copy our position. (He was in orchestra, poor guy, so he had no clue about any marching commands.)

The man smirked and chuckled a "Hmm!". "Very good," he complimented, "and don't worry, young man, I was just testing to see if any of you knew what to do. Just for fun. You'll be doing something different here, though," he told us. He waited a few seconds. "Break," he finally allowed us, and me and Jordan relaxed. Barry had probably broken when the man had said "Very good," and looked at us like, "Huh? Uh...Whoops..." "Anyway," the man said, and we all looked at him, "I am Commander Kahn, Six-Star Commander of the Elite Beat Agents. And this is EBA HQ, this room being the main control room. From here, we moniter honest people who are having it rough, and should they cry for help, I send out a team of agents, of two backups with one lead--in your case, it was agents J, Morris, and Derek--to help them." He smirked. "As you three have both experienced and actually done some of, the trio fills their target with energy to face whatever task they need to overcome through the power of song and dance. But their job is very serious, because how well they perform affects how well their target fares." He turned to the screens and pressed a few buttons. In a pair of screens, a simulation appeared. It was of three stick figure agents on the bottom and an example stick figure scene above. The example was of a stick figure, blue and with a "target" sign over it, fighting another, red stick figure.

Kahn pointed to it as the "agents" started to dance. They were doing an okay dance; nothing too bad, but nothing too good. Above, the fighters were struggling, grappling one another in a standoff. "Here, this is an okay performance. It is enough to carry the target through, but not spectacular." Then, the stick figures started doing some great moves, and their target, the blue figure, began beating the red figure something harsh. "Here, it is a great performance," Kahn narrated. "It's the most preferred performance, and it fills the target with enough energy to take what they're doing with near inhuman--or whatever race applies--ability." He paused, then explained, "We have even helped a dog find his way home over 400 miles to his owner, and a cat make sure a baby doesn't get hurt while playing in a construction site; I expect all agents to be flexible in terms of target race." He probably gave us an eye on that, but his sunglasses showed no sign of it. Then, the stick agents were, well, sucking. The red figure was winning then. Kahn finished, "And here, we have a lousy performance, which doesn't help the target a single bit, and discourages them, in fact. And should this kind of performance continue, the mission will fail." He nodded. "Fortuneately, while we've had some pretty serious cases on our hands, we've never had one where, should we fail, the life of our target is either lost or undoubtedly going to be," he assured us. "...Barring the time we had to save the world from the Rhombulans," he added.

I started. "Wait...I think I remember that!" I said. "So YOU guys were the ones who did it, huh? I just remember hearing this music and just felt so much energy, I felt like I could take on that entire alien fleet," I described. Then my heart turned to ice and I clamped my mouth shut. "Er...Sorry for speaking out of turn, sir," I appologized in a small voice. I also wondered if these guys were the ones who had encouraged the planet to fend off that meteorite heading towards Earth, and when the sun went out(which, quite frankly, would be nice, given how much global warming's a threat now...).

Kahn nodded. "No need," he said. "But as you can see," he continued, "being an agent is hard work." He paused and moved aside to show us the screens of performances. "These are peoples' hopes and dreams, or their self-images, or even their hearts we have to save! Failure is NOT taken lightly, and will be harshly punished for," he warned, raising an eyebrow. "No, no torture or anything," he added. "But it will be harsh. You might, though, get lucky and simply get a lecture from me...although I can be very harsh in doing so, as any of my agents can tell you," he pointed out, nodding to the three standing beside us. We looked and they all vigorously nodded with honesty.

"Now, do you three wish to become agents?" Kahn inquired. "From your performance, enough to revive our agents to assist something that you may not have kept up for much longer without proper training, you three all have excellent potential, despite being so young and still in high school. And the more agents we have, the better, since we wish to help as many people out as we possibly can. Just know that if you accept, while you will be doing the world a great service and be turning in at night with that pride in your heart, you will be committed to this agency and will have to drop whatever it is you may be doing--barring impossiblities such as deep sleep and using the bathroom--and do your work. You will spend much of your lives here, and will in turn not have much time at your own home after school, at least for the first few months. And even when inside school, should you be called, you MUST answer it, even if it's during the final exam. You may even be placing your life on the line. So, tell me...are you three willing to become prodigies within the Agents and unshakably devote yourselves to facing any danger to help others?" He silently awaited our answer.

A few seconds, then we realized he was finished and we could discuss. We turned and whispered to each other in a huddle. "It's not like we'll miss out on much class or anything..." "J said he'd help with homework!" "How will we get here, though?" "They'll find a way, these guys are obviously super government agent people or something..." "But think, too: If this doesn't get us respect for our performing, I dunno what will!" "After our little effort there, the school probably will respect us, though, regardless." "Well, still, I think this is a great idea, and it looks cool!" "Yeah! I wanna do this, and hey, if I survived band camp, I can take whatever this job dishes out at us!" "Well...Do they pay us?" "What if they don't? It's like community service, except more fun. I don't think they will." "Oh, well, I tried..." "But you guys want to do this? It's gonna take up a buttload of our free time." "I don't have a job yet, and I know you don't..." "I don't, either, but I really don't wanna miss any of my animes..." "Me, neither, but I think we'd have to bite the bullet and discover the wonders of taping the episodes." group sigh "Fine...I'm in." "I'm in." "And I'm in." We finally all nodded in unison and turned back around. Then we looked at who'd tell our decision, and I did rock-paper-sissors with Barry and won. I stepped forward and announced, "Barry, Jordan, and I would like to become Elite Beat Agents."

Commander Kahn smiled. "Then just pass basic training and my test, and you're in," he said. He raised an eyebrow. "You...have anything you're supposed to be at right now?" he asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice. We thought, then shook our heads. He nodded. "Alright, then!" he said, and looked to the agents. "Take them to basic training."

"Yessir!" they said in unison.

To us all, Kahn shouted, "DIS-MISSED! And good luck, you three," he bade us newbies.

We thanked him and followed the adults out.

About an hour and a half later of singing, dancing, and some tips from the senior agents, we were given a uniform to wear, complete with sunglasses that, we were told, we could replace with our own pairs at home. The uniforms, although black suits, were actually very comfortible and not at all binding, which was excellent, since we had to do some pretty wild moves sometimes. I, because I'm a bit paranoid that way, asked if it was okay if I could keep my housekey on my lanyard around my neck, and they said fine, as long as I kept it under my coat so it didn't swing around during performance. Then, we were given a microphone and asked who would lead for this one. I, as before, was picked by my comrades, and I was just fine with that. They preferred backup, anyway. Backup is just as important as lead, you know, and they knew, too. But anyway, we, nervous a bit, were led out back to the main control room.

Kahn turned in his chair to us. He looked the same: Serious. "Okay, newbies," he addressed us, "you may have passed basic training well enough, but now let's see if you can prove it to me...personally." We gulped, but clenched our fists tight, fighting the sudden stage fright that we felt. "Okay men...Don't let me down!!" Kahn ordered, and a funky beat began to play. It was a song we'd heard bits of during training, but the full version. We realized that this was a test of our creativity for new music.

I looked at my backups. "Okay...3, 2, 1--Let's go!"

Less than two minutes later, we were standing in front of him, looking anxious a little. Commander Kahn stood with a serious look on his face. He strode over to us, we three standing still as statues. At attention, but in a way, not; we had our arms at our sides. So, in military terms, we WERE at attention. Kahn stopped in front of us at center, between us and the desk. He looked at us three, then gave us a simple thumbs-up. "Congratulations, men, you are now officially Elite Beat Agents!" he informed us enthusiastically. He stopped us before we could thank him, though. "But now, to really seal the deal," he continued, and produced three badges, like the cops use, and like J showed us earlier at school, "each of you take one." In them, there was a badge, and an ID card that, somehow, had gotten our picture and our personal information. 'These guys HAVE to be government...' I also noticed a codename on mine. We all saw a BA ranking on them, and I also noticed that while mine was BA-5, my friends' were BA-6.

Kahn looked at the teammates beside me. "Jordan, Barry, your codenames will be only your middle names, 'Meyers' and 'Hunter' respectively, for the time being, since you will be started out as backup until you wish to try and become leads." He looked right at me. "And you, Gregory, will have a special codename for your position as lead, based on a personal aspect..." I felt his eyes on the center of my chest, where my housekey hung from my lanyard.

"...Welcome, Agents Meyers, Hunter...and Lock!"

(1)...(2)...(3)...(4)

(8)...(7)...(6)...(5)

Yah, crappy, I know, but hey, it's just the introduction. I didn't plan on this being much more than my own little fantasy, so don't expect anything as huge as what I've got for my original stories.

And in case you're wondering, that beat pattern is from Walkie Talkie Man on Sweatin', first pattern.


	2. Ocean Avenue

(2)( ) (The) (First) (Mission)

The first few days after we'd become Agents, me, Barry, and Jordan went about our school business as normal. We got homework, and went to clubs, and after school, we each waited for our ride to come and take us to HQ. (We'd told our parents about our joining, and they were furious that we had "found a way to shirk our chores.") There, we practiced our routines for different songs and such to prepare for whatever lay ahead of us. The kids at school didn't really make a big deal out of the Agents coming, surprisingly, and we tried to keep under wraps our identities as Agents. We're still Agents unknown to the public, thankfully.

It wasn't until two weeks after we first joined that we were given our first mission. The Commander called us to the breifing room, and displayed what was going on to our target. He explained some breif background as it went...

-----

It was a beautiful day on the northern coast of California. Many people were out and enjoying the weather: Sunbathing, picnicking, having fun with the sand, swimming, and, in one case, surfing. A suntanned man with long blonde hair and a somewhat toned body whooped as he rode a giant wave in a pair of blue Hawaiian(how d'you spell that??)-print trunks.

"WOO-HOOOOO!!" he shouted, grinning and surfing with ease, green eyes wide with excitement.

("This is Brett Setter, age 29," Commander Kahn supplied. "He's a surfer living in California's northern coast.")

The scene continued to play out. All of a sudden, Brett lost his balance and wiped out. He came up laughing, though, holding onto his old, beaten, green-streaked orange surfboard. He swam back to shore and sat for a while. Some girls in bikinis gathered around him and giggled.

"Oooooh, Brett, you're SOOO hot!" said one in a blue suit.

Brett just smiled and batted a hand away. "Please," he said dismissively.

"You're such a great surfer!" commented another in a green one.

Brett shook his head. "You saw that wipeout," he told her, shrugging it off.

A third said, "And you're so modest!!" to him, in a red suit.

Brett shrugged. "Better than being cocky," he reasoned. He really didn't look interested in them and continued to look out at sea.

"And the best part is..." said the first, and all three girls cheered at once, """YOU'RE SINGLE!!"""

Brett sighed and stood up. "Yeah, I know," he said softly, and picked up his surfboard and walked off. Through the magic of EBA HQ technology, we heard him think. 'I've been trying to get a girlfriend for a long time, but...' He glanced back at the disappointed-looking girls behind him. '...Nobody's the right one for me. I just can't find anybody.' He sighed and hung his head as he trudged along. 'If only I didn't have to move away from her...My high school sweetheart...'

He stopped by a drink shack by the beach and sat awhile. He ordered some soda and sat back, closing his eyes a second. 'Her brown eyes...'

"You know, there's this really rich girl on the southern end of the state who's really pretty," said one guy by him. "She's so pretty...Brown eyes..."

'...Long, beautiful brunette hair...'

"Yeah, and that huge head of brunette hair!!..." said the guy's friend.

'...I remember how mad her mom was when she got that tiny tattoo of a heart below her--'

"--left ear, which is really cute," continued the first guy.

Brett's eyes shot open as he realized his thoughts were being repeated right next to him. He snapped around. "And does she like wearing a gold necklace with a ruby on it?" he asked a little vehemently.

The two guys started a bit, but then settled back into the mellow and nodded. "Yeah," said the first, "and she's got this really old, beaten wristwatch she always wears, with a pink leather wristband and really scratched face. Rumor has it she's worn it since college. It's almost like her trademark, since she says she's only taken it off whenever she knows she's getting wet!"

The other one laughed. "Yeah, which means she's gotta keep it safe whenever she's around the guys she's supposed to have a huge thing for," he said, looking up with dreamy stars in his eyes.

"Surfers!" Brett exclaimed, heart beating faster.

The guys nodded and grinned. "Man, I wish that I could see her," sighed the first.

"Yeah...Word is, she's single!!" the other said.

Brett clenched a fist. "What's her name?" he asked.

The guys shook their heads. "Sorry, dude, she's Ms. Mystery Chick," the second guy answered.

Brett frowned a little, thoughtful. 'It can't be...could it...?' He heard his name called by the bartender and grabbed his drink. As he sipped it, he hummed in thought. 'If only I could go see her...I wonder if I actually have enough to go there!' He smiled and finished his drink and got up to go home.

That's where it all went wrong.

He came home and gasped in astonishment; an eviction notice was posted up on his doorway. "BUT I JUST PAID THE RENT!!" he exclaimed in rage, tearing the notice off.

"We regret to inform BRETT NATHANIEL SETTER that you are being evicted immediately for providing a fire hazard to the community," it read. He anger-veined and stomped in. "WHAT fire hazard?!" he demanded. "I knew the landlord was coming in for a checkup and cleaned up perfectly! What's that dude thi--" Brett gasped in shock as he saw paper trash, books, and all sorts of burnable crud strewn around his home. He ran to everywhere in his apartment, and found every room had been rooted through. His TV, his favorite books, his computer, his CD collection, and even his dessert that he was going to have that night had all been stolen. And the theives had done a pretty awful job of it, too. They had thrown everything else on the floor, converting the place into a disaster waiting to happen.

Brett gaped. Then he remembered something and ran to his room. He had there a safe that, to his releif, still had inside of it a beautiful, gem-studded, shiny, golden crown. It was a relic he'd gotten from a treasure hunting dive once that he was going to try and sell, hoping that cleaning it off wouldn't detract from the value. Also inside were his life savings. "Well," he said, sighing, "better get this stuff and start getting outta here."

Later that night, he was starting out of his apartment with a bag of stuff. He wore his swim trunks still, but also a t-shirt and sandals. He carried his surfboard with one arm and his bag with the other. However, no sooner had he said goodbye to his home then a black van pulled up and the inhabitants grabbed him. "WHAT THE--?!" he exclaimed before someone whacked him with something and he lost conciousness.

"Uuuuhhh..." Brett woke up slowly, feeling motion and wet. He suddenly shot his eyes open. "My stuff!" he cried, and looked over himself. He was in his trunks, nothing else, and was, thankfully, still in possession of his beloved surfboard. He was also in the middle of the ocean. He realized what all was going on. "I...was mugged...and ditched out in the middle of nowhere with my old surfboard and my trunks..." 'Those probably were of no value to them.' He suddenly heard a thunderclap and looked behind him. He could still see somewhat well, despite the fact that huge storm clouds were blocking the sky out and had lightning arcing from them, as well as it being a dark night in general. The waves began to pick up as rain started. Brett looked around in horror. No land in sight. He had been left to die! "AND IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM?!" he screamed, and shook with horror and shock.

He was out of house, out of money, out of a girlfriend...and almost out of his mind. "I'll never get to see her again!" he whispered, hanging his head. "I'll never start a family!! This can't be..." So he did the thing that only a sensible person would do. He whipped his head up and cried,

"HHHHEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLP!!"

-----

Commander Kahn stayed in his chair and with his back to us as he said, "Brett is a 29-year-old surfer who has become homeless, broke, and still without a girlfriend. He's been stranded in the middle of nowhere with mediocre surfing skills and his board while a storm brews up. His only hope now is to get to some civilization and start life over again...or, rather, surf from one end of California to the other to his lost love. It's your job to help cheer him on towards that goal. Can you do it?"

I looked at the other two, having an idea of it. They nodded. "Yes, we can," I asserted.

"Alright then..." Commander Kahn turned in his chair, drawing his right arm back as he began to stand. "Agents are..." Suddenly, he snapped to a stand and his arm straight, pointing out. "GO!!"

"""YESSIR!!""" We scrammed towards the vehicle room to the moterboat. "Kick on the hyperdrive!!" I cried, getting behind the wheel as the other two strapped in.

MISSION: Surf's Up! Find the Lost Love through the Storm!!

Brett hung his head in emotional agony as the waves began to pick up. Suddenly, he heard a moterboat behind him. He looked up and turned to see a black boat with a huge yellow star on the hood come near him, then stop. Three young men in black suits were in the boat. The one driving, who wore a lanyard with some keys on it, took out his badge and showed it. "The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" I declared confidently, despite how nervous I was. This would be hard; the waves would shake us and potentially disrupt our performance. But I had to help him!! It was my job! It was all three of our jobs!! "You do what you need, we'll help you whatever happens!" The music began to play.

Upon hearing Yellowcard's "Ocean Avenue," Brett began to feel energized. With his burst of new energy, he cried, "I've got to get to her! It's the only chance I've got!" He paddled out to a wave while he said this. We got up and started to do the swaying, which energized him even more.

"WHOOOOOOO!!!"

"Are you ready?? 3! 2! 1! GO!!"

A wave came up and Brett stood up, starting to ride in the direction he knew as being south along the wave. I kicked the boat on into autodrive and the magic began.

There's a place off Ocean Avenue

Where I used to sit and talk with you

We were both sixteen and it felt so right

Sleepin' all day, stayin' up all--

Night...

Stayin' up all--

Night...

We danced and sang as best we could, and we saw our target, Brett, surfing along. At first he was doing fine, sorta, barely staying on, but then, I accidentially misjudged the waves and messed up, coming on monstrously off. He lost it and fell off, grabbing his surfboard. I quickly got back on track and did perfect. Brett thought of his girlfriend and was energized. He got back on and started surfing at top speed, the wake of his surfboard being like our boat's wake.

Suddenly, Brett saw a huge wave coming up. "Woah!!" he shouted as he saw it. He crouched and tried to surf as fast as he could along the wave he was on. The wave that was dying. "C'mon..." (We motered along with him, hoping to God he'd make it.) The monstrous wave was starting to come down, almost on top of him! But then, he got a burst of speed from another, tiny wave crashing over the one he was on, and the main, larger wave crashed down right behind him. The wave IT created propelled him along. "GNARLY!!" he whooped, surfing it along at an amazing speed. We had to zoom top-speed to keep up!

O

There's a place on the corner of Cherry Street

We would walk on the beach in our bare feet

We were both eighteen and it felt so right

Sleepin' all day, stayin' up all...

Night...

Stayin' up all...

Night...

Suddenly, while he was riding along another huge wave, a person stuck his head out of the wave behind him. He had white hair, an enormous upper body...and the tail of a fish! He also bore a huge trident in his right hand, which he was pointing at Brett from behind. "Huh?" Brett turned and gasped.

"NO TRESPASSING, HUMAN!!" screamed the merman, obviously pissed-off.

"YIKES!!" Brett squeaked, and sped off as best as he could.

If I could find you now things would get better

We could leave this town and run forever

Let your waves crash down on me and take me away

I just don't feel like trying to describe our dance; besides, it's better to see them than read them. I'll tell you this, though: We had to cut it short since the first chorus was short. But anyway, for some reason, Brett just couldn't keep up his speed after he was barely ahead of stabbing range, and so he coasted back and was then being poked in the arse with the prongs of the trident. These spurred him soon to going at top speed again, though, with the merman, astonished, swimming furiously far behind him. Nobody chased us, thankfully, since we already were having quite a time trying to be perfect with the rolling waves. We were getting used to them, though, and getting better. And nobody was getting the least bit seasick, either!!

While the song extended an instrumental for a moment, Brett, to his (and our) dismay, found himself surrounded by mermen soon. All swam along by and around him, pointing spears at the human, while the first one continued to point one behind him. In a last ditch effort, Brett tried, motioning with his hands, "Look, dudes! I'm not tryin' to trespass or anything! I'm just trying to get to my old girlfriend, my lost love, and I have no other way to go but by the waves, man!" He hoped that was enough, but added, "It's been 11 years since I saw her last, and she's my only hope of starting a family!! Please!!" He knelt on his surfboard and got into a begging position.

The mermen glared, then their expressions softened so far that they almost looked like they would cry. "Aw, heck!" said the lead merman, and he swam up to him. "C'mon, fellas! Let's all help him out!!"

The other mermen nodded and each grabbed a side of the board. "SUPER OCEAN POWER!!" they cried in unison, and they began to swim at super speed, with Brett hanging on and flying out comically. "THANKS, DUDES!!" he shouted, flying along.

O

After some time, the mermen left Brett to fend for himself. And it took a long time, but the storm finally broke; though, like a fever does, it has to get worse before it gets better. "The storm's breaking up!" Brett noticed, looking around. It was still night and rough, but there was enough light to see by. Definitely enough light to see--

"RRAAAWWWWRRRRRR!!"

"Aw, this is just GREAT!!" Brett growled loudly, seeing the great white shark behind him trying to take a snack from him.

(Me, Meyers, and Hunter looked at each other, gulped, but then continued.)

There's a peice of you that's here with me

It's everywhere I go

It's everything I see

When I sleep I dream and it gets me by

I can make believe

That you're here

Tonight

That you're here

Tonight

If I could find you now things would get better

We could leave this town and run forever

I know somewhere somehow we'll be together

Let your waves crash down on me and take me away-e-ah...

At first, Brett got nervous and fell back again. He then squeaked and furiously did a paddle-out to keep ahead of the shark, but then he got ahead again. He was ahead a bit, with the Jaws-wannabe snapping at him, but missing. He thought about all his efforts up until now, and thought about what would happen if a stupid shark took him out now. He surged ahead of the shark, who was also fast, but could now only focus on swimming to keep up, with no attempts at trying to bite.

The instrumental began, and the shark somehow had kept up with Brett. Brett grimiced. "Time to shake this guy!" he declared, and turned around on top his board(so he was still going forward). "I hear that punching them on the nose gets 'em off..." he mumbled, and wound up. The shark poked its face out of the water, and Brett took his chance while the thing opened its mouth to snap him up. "TAKE THIS!!" he cried, and let fly. WHAP! He nailed the thing on the nose, making it yip like a dog. (We decided not to let the fact that, as far as we knew, sharks didn't make sounds at all bother us) It sank back into the water, which caused Brett to pump his arms in victory. "YES!! I can't believe it worked!!" he exclaimed, and turned back to surfing. Suddenly, he saw the shark right by him. He was about to punch it again when he saw just these most pitiful puppy-dog eyes. It almost seemed to say that it was sorry. It wiggled its body, ephisizing its dorsal fin. Brett blinked. "You're gonna give me a ride?" he asked, then grinned. He grabbed onto the fin. "Thanks, dude!!"

The shark took off, Brett zooming along again. "COWABUNGA!!!" he whooped as he zipped off.

O

Finally, after a time, the shark let him go. Day had broken, finally--we musta lost track of time--and there was a city in the distance. Brett grinned. "There it is!" he cheered. "It's the city where she lives!! I'm almost there!!" But then he noticed the swells coming again. He narrowed his eyes. "But it looks like we've got a little more rough waves to get through!"

I nodded to my friends. "Let's finish it out, guys!" I said, and we started for the last time this mission.

I remember the look in your eyes

When I told you that this was goodbye

You were beggin' me "Not tonight,

"Not here, Not now"

We're lookin' up at the same night sky

Keep pretendin' the sun will not rise

We'll be together for one more night

Somewhere, somehow...

If I could find you now things would get better

We could leave this town and run forever

I know somewhere somehow we'll be together

Let your waves crash down on me and take me away

He navigated the waves with precision as we finished out perfectly. At last, he made it to the beach, where he finally turned and let the wave take him in. "Finally!!" he cried in joy, coasting to a stop on the sand. Morning was in full light now, and a few people were already out and enjoying the beach. It was considerably warmer here. Brett laughed in glee and grabbed his board, then ran to the mainland. It was amazing he could still stand after surfing so long. He grew serious as he entered the main city. "Now to find out...!"

He raced to a phone booth and looked at a phone book before gasping, "She DOES live here!"

DING-DONG!! 

A woman went to the door of her house. She had just finished dressing and was about to have another cup of coffee. "I wonder who it is?" she muttererd, and opened the door to reveal a panting, weak-legged, somewhat-shaking, and surfboard-clutching Brett. "Eh?"

Brett grinned. "Hey, Lisa! It's me, Brett Setter!!" he said, pointing to himself. "How've ya been?" he asked.

Lisa gasped and started back. "Oh, my gosh! BRETT!!?"

- - -

"So..." Lisa set down her mug of coffee. She stared at him in amazement. Her features were exactly like described, down to the necklace that she'd been given by him those years ago. She looked more mature, but otherwise the same. "You went through all of that because you missed me?" she asked incredulously.

Brett nodded, tears starting up. He set his mug of much-needed coffee down too and then kneeled and clasped his hands together and begged, "Yes! And please, Lisa, don't tell me it was all for nothing!!"

Lisa looked at him, and her eyes began to water and her mouth turned into a smile. "...No...No, Brett...It wasn't!!" she replied, and threw her arms around him. He hugged back. "I've missed you so much!!" she bawled.

Brett, who was crying so hard, tears were shooting out the sides of his eyes like fountains, just returned, "Me, too!!"

A few months later sees the two standing side by side, in bride and groom outfits, with their backs to the sea. A preist is reading them their stuff, while behind them, in the ocean, some of the mermen wave and congratulate him. The shark, as well, who now had a red collar with a brass circular tag on him, was there, sticking out of the water and waving a fin, grinning with his rows of teeth. Of course, some other people were there, but they were on land, and the real scene was of the ocean, Lisa's smile (with her watch, necklace, and tattoo) and Brett's enormous grin and slight tears of joy as the two stood side-by-side.

Before that, though, me, Meyers, and Hunter stood by the window of the house, smiling and looking on as the two hugged each other. We smiled, nodded, and then turned around and leaped back into the boat. Finally, we went on home.

We got back to base and reported to the breifing room. Commander Kahn sat like he did before, which worried us, but then he stood and turned like before. But instead of pointing, he gave a thumbs-up. "YYEEAAAAHH!!!" he thundered, and we smiled.

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

The first mission went over great. I was ecstatic, and the others were, too. We had done it! We helped him through the power of song and dance! We felt absolutley great, despite how tired we were from the whole ordeal. We bet that Brett was pretty tired, too. We saw our results afterwards onscreen. We did very well, and got an A rank. But I knew we could've done better. Afterwards, I told J this, and he grinned.

"Well, you can always go back and try again," he said as if it were the simplest thing in the world, smiling his signiture smile.

I blinked. "Huh? How?" I asked. "Can we go back in time?"

J laughed and shook his head[crossing his fingers in his pocket. "No, I mean going into the Holojam Room!" he answered.

"Holo...jam? Shouldn't it be holoGRAM?" I asked, tilting my head.

J waggled a finger. "Nope. It's called the Holojam room since we can go there and re-enact any mission we've cleared recently and see if we can do better than we really did. It's good for training, too. We get scored depending on performance, too, and so we can shove it in each others' faces if we did well or not." He grinned. "A perfect S rank is hard to do, but it's awesome to get. You got an A, right? Great job!!" He grinned. "Let's see you do better!" He beckoned me and I followed.

We got to a set of double doors and entered. Inside, a huge room met us, with a real Tron-like feel with the black entirety with green grid lines around. J showed me a side room with controls and explained what to do. "Just get your backups here, choose any past mission you've taken, and step to the center of the floor. Then shout 'Ready!' when you are, and bam! you'll start up the mission again, just like it was before, except it's fake, so you can fail without getting reamed by the Commander." He smiled and patted me as he left. "See ya, and have fun!"

I smiled back and wondered what to do. I decided that I should prolly be heading to home now, since I was really wiped. Tomorrow was another day...

(1)(2)(3) (4) (5)

\ \

(7) ))

(8) (6)( )

(There's a place off Oce-an Av-en-ue)

(1 2 3 4 5-- () 6 7 8 )

I just hope these beat patterns--from now on all regarding the song of the chapter--come out alright on this is one of the situations I had put up on the GameFAQs message boards...;; Sorry if it's stupid. If the notechart doesn't work due to variable-width fonts(EVIL!!), then I'll just try and draw one up and post it as the chapter picture for my deviantART account, for which I'll provide a link later on in the one. And if you haven't gotten it by now, I love Yellowcard XD


	3. Candyman

___

(3)_*_( ) (A) (Trend) (Begins)

Our next mission came to us when we'd least expected it. We were just walking along, down the street, and we passed by an old candy store. We saw a kid sneak out, and found that he had something in his pocket. I had a bad feeling about this. I looked at the others and we nodded. We went over and snuck by the window. We saw something behind the letters, "Julian's Sugar Jewels," that were faded and painted onto the window from the other side.

A dark-skinned man was standing distraught in the shop. He had short-cut hair underneath a hat like the ones that restraunt workers wore way back in, like, the 50's...Like, kinda what I think they might wear still today when working at a hot dog stand by the street or something. Those dorky ones that kinda look like veterns' hats! Yeah! Well, this guy also wore a cream smock, which was the same color as his hat. He had a deep blue shirt on underneath it and blue jeans and black shoes. He looked like a normally-built person. His face was screwed up in dispair. I took out my badge, flipped it open, and screwed around with it a bit. Soon, on the id-card part, which was really a screen, showed an occiliscope. We heard what he was saying behind the glass.

"Another one...Oh, man, this ain't good! This BITES!!" He growled as he grabbed a box from a shelf above him. But it was too high for him to take it without a ladder and be safe. "Woa-oa-OA-OAAHAAAUUGGHH!!" He was off balance and hopping back with the heavy box. Then, he finally fell, and the box crashed to the floor, spilling tons of candy. To make things worse, he had knocked into a standing shelf which began to fall, too, and then it did, hitting the second one inside the small store, and the whole thing fell. Everything spilled, and things were all over the place. On the floor and looking horrified, the man started to shake...before...

**"HHEEEEEAAAAAALLLLP!!"**

Instantly, while we started to dash to a place to change as soon as we heard the cry even without the badge, stats came to us.

Target: Julian, male, candy store owner (and only employee)

Age: 31

Info: Loves game shows

The other two pulled their badges out and looked along with as we watched a short video...

-----

It was a bit earlier that day. Julian was setting up his shop, looking down. We noticed a paper on a table, and the camera zoomed in on it. "Rent Due," it read, and some more papers around appeared to be invoices for packages of candy. Julian sighed as he opened his store.

He began to think. 'I'm living my dream, on my own, and managing my own store...and able to have all the candy I want! ...Well, almost. But it's almost like it's all for me, since...well...' He looked around at his empty store as he entered and sighed, dropping his head down to his arms. 'I'm the only guy here to work...and I get no customers...' The scene fades out.

Suddenly the door jingles as the scene reappears later in the day, and a kid comes in. He notices him step in and wave. It looks like the kid that me and my friends saw walk out. He went behind a few shelves. Julian leaned over and saw him just browsing. He decided to go and see how much he had in the cash register. CH-CHING!! Not a cent. He had been open all day, and nobody at all came in except a few kids, but they all left without any--waita--! Jingle-jing "What the--?!" He whips his head around to see the kid stepping out...with a lump in his pocket. (We also chuckled as we saw ourselves walk over and crouch beneath the window.) "No!! I can't believe it!!" He whacked his head. "I did it again!!" 'Another dang shoplifter!!'

-----

The scene continued on as it had before when we watched from the window. We had finished changing in the alley and had nodded to each other. "What to do?" asked Meyers, pulling his shades on and his mic out. "'My Sweet Passion'?" He preferred to wear perfectly circle-lensed, 70's-kinda-guy sunglasses.

Hunter, his shades a pair of those tacky, star-shaped shades, with matching yellow rims, shook his head. "Naw, too stupid...How about 'I Want Candy'?" he suggested.

I shook mine back. I wore a pair of gentle oval-shaped, very dark blue-lensed wireframe shades. "No, I don't think that would help much...Hmmm..." A lightbulb lit up above me. "Got it!! You guys have those voice changers on your mics, right?" I asked. They nodded. "Then set 'em to female and keep your thumbs on the switch." I started to dash from the alleyway.

"What song?" asked Meyers as he and Hunter followed.

"What else is there that's candy-themed and one we practiced?" I asked.

They both raised their eyebrows. "But we haven't practiced much!" complained Hunter. "What if we--"

"No more time!" I cut him off, slamming into the store.

-:-:-

Julian looked in horror at the disaster in front of him. "How will I ever clean this up?!" he moaned, then hung his head, hopeless. Then, JAANG!-G'LANG! WHAM! He saw me come in and shove my badge out to him. During this, my partners started entering behind me, the music starting. They swung their arms and strolled in a la Space Channel 5, in other words sorta jazzlike if you can get the image.

Hunter sang, normal voice, "Tarzan and Jane were swingin' on a vine!"

Returned Meyers in a female voice thanks to the voice changer, "Candyman...candyman..."

**-:-:-MISSION: End of the Sweet Dreams? Save the Shop!-:-:-**

"The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" I said when they were singing. "You hop to it, while we do our thing!" We then got in position.

By the time I'd stopped my intro, the others had continued, "Sippin' from a bottle of vodka double wine!"

Whispered: "Sweet...sugar...candyman."

Then came in the trumpets, and we swayed. The sable-skinned shopkeep felt it and swayed as well. "WHOOOOOO!!"

And so we began cheering to Christina Aguilera's single "Candyman," full of jazzy feel and call-and-response action, with only a slight bit of promiscuity that signified her new brand of grown-up, Jazz-infused Pop. [Tho the (at least two next) songs afterwards on the disk can be a bit...yyyyeeaaahhhhh...;;

"""Are you ready? ...3! 2! 1! GO!"""

- I met him out for dinner on a Friday night

- He really got me workin' up an appetite

- He had tattoos up and down his arm

- There's nothin' more dangerous than a boy with charm

- He's a one-stop shop, makes the panties drop

- He's a sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman

- A sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman

Our chorus was sorta like the music video, with us crossing our index and middle fingers in an x in front of us at "one-stop shop," then we deviated from the video and put our fists to our chests like an excited schoolgirl and bounced our torsoes up at "panties drop"(you'll see why later), then a slow turn to the rear, swaying our forearms to one side, the other, then we stop with our backs turned to our target as we shook them left-right-LEFT. Then as the last line of the chorus came, first Hunter, who was on my left normally, turned, a finger to his lips, then me, and then Meyers, all of us like Hunter.

Julian, meanwhile, worked and swept up everything that wasn't salvagable at a slow speed, and the calamity of it all got him so down, though, that he couldn't help but lean on his broom and cry. But then he thought of his dreams and how he wasn't really helping out standing there and pouting. Suddenly, he was flying all around the store, sweeping, putting away, and all sorts of stuff.

In a jiffy, he had finished cleaning the entire mess. He smiled and looked around, wiping his brow. "Sparklin' like sugah!" he chimed, the store all neat and tidier than ever.

**---(O)---**

He looked outside and saw nobody coming. He growled and grabbed a sign that had his store's name on it. "I've got to attract customers!!" he cried, and dashed out.

- He took me to the Spider Club at Hollywood and Vine

- We drank champagne and we danced all night

- We shook the paparazzi for a big surprise (big surprise)

- The gossip tonight will be tomorrow's headlines

- He's a one-stop shop, makes my cherry pop

- He's a sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman

- A sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman

(See what I meant for the chorus part?)

He at first was doing only mediocre, with minimal enthusiasm. He just stood and waved a sign, saying that he's got sweets for sale. Some jerks came by and laughed at him as he stood there, though, and he was caught off-balance for a second. Then he steeled himself and thought that he should stop being a baby and just DO it! So, he was wavin' his sign around, gettin' off a fantastic sales pitch.

"C'mon in! We've got all your sweet-tooth's desires in here! Sour candy that's SOUR!! Chocolate that melts a carpet of sweetness on your tounge!! Juicy lollipops and hard candy!! The chewiest, tastiest gummy bears and worms!!" he schpeiled. A few kids in the area looked at him and then went on with their business. Julian gritted his teeth. 'What else could they want?!' he thought aggrivatedly. Then his own lightbulb came on. "AND TONS OF GUM OF ALL SORTS!!" he added. "DIRT-CHEAP!!"

KA-PWING!! Kids from all over came to him. He pumped his arm in victory. "Alrighty, then, c'mon in!" he said, holding an arm out.

**---(O)---**

(-) Wha-shoo-ba-da-dwee-ba-baa-da-boo-da-bwee-dop-bow

(-) Ba-bow!!

(-) Yeah!

(-) Wha-shoo-ba-dwee-ba-do-ba-dwee-bop-bow!

(-) Yeah!

Now behind the counter in a wonderfully busy store, Julian had another problem: "I've got to keep an eye on these kids so that they don't steal anything," he muttered as he looked at the big-pocketed children coming inside.

- Sha-do-ba-dee-ba-do-ba-dee-bop-bow!!

- Oh yeah!

- Sha-do-ba-dee-ba-do-ba-swee-dop-bow!!

- He's a one-stop shop, makes my cherry pop

- He's a sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman

- A sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman

- Woo-aahh yeeaahh!

Julian was helping customers out, but also he could barely keep an eye on people coming out without buying anything and caught anyone trying to sneak stuff out. But then, he got bogged down by customers buying, and he accidentially let some people sneak past. Then, realizing what was happening, he clenched his fists and went into overdrive. He catered to customers and caught everyone who even tried to sneak out.

It ended up that he was doing really well. One customer after another, he cashed in the big dough and all. But then, someone tried to sneak out. "HOLD IT!!" he cried, and the boy bolted. Julian leaped over the counter and grabbed him, though, and brought him front and center. He reached into a bulging pocket and pulled out a bundle of expensive sweets. "You, kid, are BUSTED," he said sternly, giving a very dark look to the perpetrator, and the other kids, seeing this, gulped and decided not to try and shoplift again from him.

**---(O)---**

(-) Well, by now I'm gettin' all bothered and hot

(-) When he kissed my mouth he really hit the spot

(-) He had lips like sugar cane

(-) Good things come for boys who wait

Julian brought up his fist. "I've gotta keep it up!!" he said in a low voice, as more people came in, and went back to the counter.

I looked to the other two. "Finish out!!"

They nodded and smiled and continued.

- Tarzan and Jane were swingin' on a vine

- (Candyman, candyman)

- Sippin' from a bottle of vodka double wine

- (Candyman, candyman)

- (Sweet, sugar, candyman)

- He's a one-stop, gotcha hot, makin' all the panties drop

- (Sweet, sugar, candyman)

- He's a one-stop, got me hot, makin' my (uh) pop

- (Sweet, sugar, candyman)

- He's a one-stop, get it while it's hot, baby don't stop

- (Sweet, sugar...)

- He got those lips like sugar cane!

- GOOD THINGS COME TO BOYS WHO WAIT!!

- He's a one-stop shop, with a real big (uh)

- He's a sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman (say what?)

- A sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman (Say!)

- A sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candyman (Woo!)

- A sweet-talkin', sugar-coated candymanHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEAAAHHHAAAHHAHHAHAYOOOOHOHOOHWOAHOH!!!

Julian grinned that night, looking at his crammed register and his considerably lighter stock. He smiled broadly. "Oh, man, I've got it!! I've GOT it!! This is so much, I can pay for the rent, and then some...wait...I've got 'til the end of the month! Let's keep it up!!" he asserted, holding up and clenching his fist, fire burning in his eyes.

- - -

A month later, a kid walks in and gasps at the renovated store, with round mirrors, theif-detecting posts by the door, and more than one employee at the store. Julian grinned and greeted him. "Welcome to Julian's Sugar Jewels!! Now, we've got a bigger selection, better security, and more happy employees to serve you and your sweet-tooth needs!!" he rattled off happilly.

(-) (Candyman...candyman...(etc.))

(-) Tarzan and Jane were swingin' on a vine

(-) (Tarzan and Jane were swingin' on a vine!)

(-) Sippin' from a bottle of vodka double wine

(-) (Sippin' from a bottle of vodka double wine!)

(-) Jane lost her grip and a-down she fell

(-) (Jane lost her grip and a-down she fell!)

(-) Squared herself away as she let out a yell

(-) (Squared herself away as she let out a yell!)

- - -

A happy Julian is seen standing at his new register, helping out smiling kids as they wait in line to buy their sweet treats. He's got a new uniform and everything, the store's great, there's just better things all around him.

-:-:-

(Of course, before then, we stood outside the store, on the curb, looking as he busilly worked away after finishing out. We knew he could handle it from then on.)

We got to HQ later that day and, because we knew we should, went to the breifing room. Kahn waited, then stood and turned, giving another thumbs-up.

"YYEAAAAHHHH!!"

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

"We got an S on it! Awesome!" I said after we saw our grade. "That's great!"

Commander Kahn sat down again. "You three were very lucky to be there right as it started. And good instincts, too, to take action without being sent to do so. Very good work, Agents," he complimented us. "That'll be all. DIS-MISSED!"

"""YESSIR!!"""

-----

\ / \ /

\\/ \ \//

\/ \/

(2)

/ \ / \

(1)//\ \/\\

( )/ \ / \

((at end) )

(A sweet talkin', sugar-coated candy man...)

(1---------------------------------------- )

(A sweet talkin', sugar-coated candy man...)

(----------------------------- ()? 2 )

On that shaped phrase marker(which should look like a classic bowtie-style wrapped peice of candy): Do you think I did it right? It's kinda hard to imagine it, but it's possible, I'm certain. I have a thing for shaped phrase markers, since they really look AWESOME to me. I loved the star and the lips in EBA!


	4. Here It Goes Again

(4)( ) (The) (True) (Adventure)

Things were going great. A few missions here and there, and we always did great. But then, summer came, and when we thought that we'd get a buttload of missions, turns out...we weren't called up a lot. And I didn't know why.

One day, I talked to J. "Hey, why do you think that Commander Kahn ain't callin' us lately?" I asked.

J frowned and held his chin. "I really can't tell ya, sorry," he said, shrugging. "I haven't a single clue why he'd do that. Your guess is as good as mine. You're excellent agents, but maybe he just wants to give you a break...?"

We shrugged and went our own ways.

It was the middle of June when I was sitting down and watching an episode of Pokémon, a guilty pleasure of mine. My little sister liked to watch with me. It was an absolutely brand-new episode. So new, in fact, it seemed a little...well, WAY ahead. Ash and co. were way farther than they were the other day, and I was confused. "I wonder if they messed up the dubbing," I wondered. It was in English, but it seemed to be, after I quick checked online on a laptop, an episode after the latest one from Japan. I shot my eyebrows up. "What the heck's going on?" I wondered.

I continued to watch...

-----

Ash and co. were encamped in a forest. He and his friends were having lunch together, nice and good. The new friend of the episode was named Haji, which was another sign it was the Japanese's current episode. But everything was in plain English; even the main characters' names!

Haji was just a normal-looking, brown-haired kid in a gakuran(school uniform). He was happilly having lunch with the group. "Thanks, guys!" he said again. "This is delicious!"

Brock smiled. "Made it myself," he said modestly.

Haji grinned and wolfed down some more soup. "You're an AWESOME cook, Brock!" he complimented around his food.

Dawn gave him a disproving look. "You shouldn't talk with your mouth full," she admonished.

"What?" Ash asked, looking up. He had his own full.

(Suddenly, I felt something in my pocket. I pulled out my badge and flipped it open. "Did I finally get a mission?" I mumbled. Then I just stopped and stared.

Ash Ketcham, 15

Wannabe Pokémon Master

"No...way...It's a hack...GOTTA be...")

Dawn, meanwhile, sighed frustratedly. "A-aash..."

Pikachu and the other pokémon were having a good time with their food. But then, out of nowhere, a metal claw comes and grabs them all. "PIKAAAA!!" squealed the electric-type in surprise. The other pokémon all made sounds of dismay as well.

"Pikachu!!" Ash turned to his friend and saw it get carried off to a huge machine. With, of course, a big red "R" on it. A trio of voices laughed.

Out came Team Rocket.

(Jessie, Won't tell

James, Won't tell either (?)

Meowth, (There's a theme here)

Team Rocket Members Trying to Catch Pikachu For Over 10 Seasons Running)

Jessie laughed. "OH-hohohohoho!!" she laughed. "You're not going to foil us THIS time, twerps!" she said. "So, without wasting any more time, let's get this show on the road!" (They had done their motto already, before Ash and co. met Haji and while I was checking up on the laptop for what episode this was. In fact, another sign something was wrong was that the episode bore no title at all.)

James grinned. "It's time for the LOSERS to win for once!" he cheered, holding his fists excitedly.

Meowth, holding a sort of device, smirked. "Now let's blow dis joint!" he said, and pressed a button.

At once, a huge array of claws reached out and grabbed the kids...and the food. "AAUUUGH!!" they screamed, being pulled in.

Ash, as always, cried his automatic "PIKACHU! THUNDERBOLT!!", although, as usual, it was innefective. The culprit this time?

EVERYONE GOT ZAPPED!! And Team Rocket, standing on a rubber platform, laughed in unison. "Nice try, twerp," Jessie spat, "but your little rat can't get us this time, and each time it tries, it'll zap EVERYONE and EVERYTHING except the rubber-insulated cockpit and machinery!!"

"It's the perfect strategy!" James said, the kids getting thrown into separate cages inside the body of the mecha. He turned to the others. "It's a good idea we spent so much! We've got so many great pokémon now!!"

"And we FINALLY captured Pikachu!!" Meowth sang, and the three did a little dance of joy.

Meanwhile, inside the mecha, Ash and the others were in cages, and now they were even further separated. """AAASHH!!""" cried Dawn, Brock, and Haji.

"GUYS!!" Ash cried. There were lights on, but he was soon unable to see them thanks to a few walls that came down and separated them. "GUYYYS!!!"

He gritted his teeth and tried slamming into the cage. It was solid metal, and he'd never escape. The enormous robot's insides were mostly hollow, which gave plenty of room for the room to suddenly move. Ash gaped. "They're moving us even FURTHER apart?!" he cried. "Isn't it enough by now?!"

Jessie's voice crowed from a speaker, "Learn from your mistakes, and you'll never make another one again!"

"We learned to never take you twerps so lightly," said James.

"And now you'll never win again!!" finished Meowth.

The three of them laughed as Ash just sat there, thinking about the situation. Pikachu and the other pokémon were being held hostage again, but this time to add to that, his friends were God-knows-where and he was in an impossible-to-break cage. "No...Pikachu..." he whispered, shaking. Then, he did something that I never thought that brave, strong-willed Ash would never do.

He clenched his fists.

He shut his eyes.

A tear fell onto his pants.

His mouth showed gritted teeth.

A creshendo was heard from some sort of sound, and finally, it culminated as Ash threw up his head, opened his mouth, and screamed, with the sound effect turning into an explosion and the screen becoming a burst from him on a red background that inspired a sense of desparation,

"HHHEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLLP!!"

-----

I stared at the TV, stunned, as my badge blipped and beeped. "What is it?" asked my little sister, looking at my badge. "I think someone's calling you."

I looked and blanched.

Target has called for help. Respond immediately. 

"No...way..." I shakilly said, awestruck at this. Then I anger-veined and squeezed the badge. "WELL, HOW DO YA PROPOSE WE -GET- THERE?!" I demanded.

As if on cue, the TV screen began to swirl. A portal, it seemed, was opening up in our living room. I gaped. "Ah."

"YO! LOCK!!"

I turned to the badge again, seeing it was patching through a call. "Meyers!"

"I can't believe it!! I saw the whole thing!! AND NOW MY TV'S BUSTED!!"

I nodded. "We've got no choice," I said grimly. I stood up. "As Commander Kahn would put it..." I threw off my clothes and changed a la the show I had just been watching.

"Agents are GO!!"

I said goodbye to my sister and closed my badge, then dove into the TV.

MISSION: Team Rocket Strikes Again!! Mission in Another World?!

Ash looked around at the cage. "How'm I ever gonna get outta here?!" He hung his head. Then, suddenly, a rift opened in space by him and out came three people dressed up in black suits and shades. "What the--?!"

I showed him my badge as the music began and the portal closed up behind me. "The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!! Get your butt in gear, and we'll take it from here!" And then, with a single nod, we began the wave.

Ash, already being invigorated from the music, became enthused with the waving.

"WWOOOOAAAAAHH!"

"""Are you ready? ...3! 2! 1! GO!"""

And instead of doing normal moves, we kicked on a button on our shoes, which made the soles begin sliding and looping like a treadmill, and began our self-made, 3-man version of the most famous dance on YouTube as OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" began.

It could be ten, but then again, I can't remember half an hour

since a quarter to four

Throw on your clothes, the second side of Surfer Rosa, and you

leave me with my jaw on the floor

At first, Ash was slamming moderately well into the cage, but he thought of Pikachu, then, and, for the first time in our career, we had someone who didn't do worse before he did better. He slammed harder and harder at the walls of the cage.

Hard as he tried, though, Ash couldn't get out. He gritted his teeth and looked around, but then he saw something. He fiddled with the cage a bit, then easilly opened a door and walked out. It closed behind him and locked up, almost taking his hat. "Woah!" He grabbed it just in time and yanked it back before the cage snapped on his arm. "That was close!" he breathed, putting it on again.

A squak emmitted from the speaker. "JAMES!!" scolded Jessie, "I thought you bought the ones that had a combination lock!!"

"Well, we didn't really have enough for that, Jess!" he retorted, sounding less defensive and more cowering.

Ash made his classic Ash face and clenched his fist as he looked at the speaker. "You're not stoppin' me!!" he defiantly asserted.

O

Just when you think, you're in control

Just when you think you've got a hold

Just when you get on a roll

Next, Ash climbed out of the room he was in and saw a huge room with wires and cables all around. Not to mention tons of openings he could've been through. He gaped. "I'm never gonna know where my friends are now!!" he cried. We hopped up onto the roof of the "room" he was in and began our first non-repeated chorus dance, probably the first in EBA history.

Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again

Oh, here it goes again

I should've known, should've known, should've known again

But here it goes again

Oh, oh, here it goes again

Ash hopped to it right then, climbing up at full speed. He was like a little monkey, and was pretty smart and chose carefully the cords to grab so as not to get electricuted.

As we went on with our chorus, we turned on the experimental jet shoe technology and started boosting up to be by him so he could see us cheering him on. We continued to do the treadmill stuff in midair, as if were were on an elevator. It was easier to mime grabbing the parts of the treadmill while flying since we could manipulate the shoes to make it happen. We were able to keep it up at full strength for the whole chorus.

Then, Ash started looking around. "O-kay, now," he mumbled, looking around like a guy on a mast or something searching for land, "where did I come from...?" He looked down one hallway and thought. "This feels about right," he guessed, and sprang off easilly to it. The real test came after he ran a ways and found himself in a big room. He laughed happilly. "Yeah! This has GOTTA be it!" he said, running along.

"ASH!" cried a voice.

Ash stopped and turned. "Brock!!" He ran to a cage and opened it. "You okay?" he asked as he helped him out.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Brock said, getting out.

Shouts of frustration blared from the speakers.

O

It starts out easy, something simple, something sleazy,

something itching past the edge of the reserve

Now through lines of the cheap venetian blinds your car is

pulling off of the curb

Ash ran along with Brock, looking around. "We've gotta find our friends!!" he asserted.

Brock nodded and turned down one way. "I'll go this way," he called.

"Oh, no, you don't!" said the trio over the speakers. Defensive laser beams began to flicker on, to Ash's and Brock's dismay.

""WOAH!""

Brock, being older and more experienced, would be fine on his own, we reasoned, so we went after Ash.

(We gulped and looked at each other at the lasers, crossing our fingers.)

Just when you think, you're in control

Just when you think you've got a hold

Just when you get on a roll

Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again

Oh, here it goes again

I should've known, should've known, should've known again

But here it goes again

Oh, oh, here it goes again

Oh, here it goes!

Oh, here it goes!

Oh, here it goes again

Oh...oh here it goes again!!

Ash at first was careful, but then he started to feel his determination again and began running through at top speed, dodging them almost like this one ninja guy we saw a video of from EBA HQ's old files of missions. He kept it up well. We also were able to, thanks to the jet shoes, dodge them while continuing to treadmill-dance.

Ash found a handy little map showing where the others were as he rounded a corner. By this time, we'd gone into the little rest part with the repeated lyrics and guitaring. "Huh?" He looked at it. "That's handy! They're all in one place!" He raced down the hallways. "Let's hope I remembered right," he muttered, and after a while found the end of the hallway. "Guys?!" he called.

"""ASH!!""" three voices called back from behind a doorway.

"YES!! I found them!!" he said, pumping his arm in victory. He tried to open the door. "Ugh! Locked!"

"Why you little twerp!" Jessie seethed over the PA system. A laser beam changed course, and Ash barely noticed in time. He threw his body to the side when a laser beam zapped out. It hit the door, caused an explosion, and freed the others.

Ash grinned and chuckled. "Thanks, Jessie!" he called while she was heard groaning with rage.

O

Oh, oh

Oh, here it goes

Yeah!

Oh, here it goes again!

He-heey!

Oh, here it goes!

All right

Ash and co. then went back and heard Brock call them. "Guys!! This way! C'mon!!" he said, and they all ran along the laser-lined hallways.

We grinned and looked at each other. "Let's finish out!"

I guess there's got to be a break in the monotony, but

Jesus, when it rains how it pours

Throw on your clothes, the second side of Surfer Rosa, and

you leave me...yeah, you leave me...

Oh

Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again

Oh, here it goes again

I should've known, should've known, should've known again

But here it goes again

Oh, here it goes (hey!) here it goes (hey! now...)

Aw, here it goes again!

I should have known (hey!) should have known (hey! now...)

But here it goes again!

Aw, here it--! Aw, here it--! Aw, here it--! Aw, here it--!

Aw, here it goes!

I should've--! I should've--! I should've--! I should've--!

I should've known!

The group broke into the main room with the pokémon. Ash went over to Pikachu. "Pikachu!!" he cried in joy. To the others, he said, "Use your attacks so we can bust outta this rust bucket!!"

The other pokémon nodded and fired strong, varied attacks all over.

Up in the cockpit, the controls were, of course, smoking as the three looked in horror at their plan being ruined. "But it was flawless!!" James protested.

"It was effortless!!" Meowth complained.

"IT WAS PRICELESS!!" Jessie roared.

Wobbuffet got out of its ball. "WAAABBA WABBA!" it said, saluting as normal.

The holding room exploded and the group and their pokémon leapt out before the whole mecha exploded. They were let down safely thanks to their flying types. The four turned and watched as the mecha exploded behind them. Ash grinned and hugged Pikachu. "We did it!!" he cried. "We stopped Team Rocket...again!"

We stood back and watched, hovering in the air as Team Rocket stood up, charred black, from their junkheap, and as Ash and co. celebrated having their pokémon back. But it wasn't over yet.

Jessie roared, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, TWERP!!"

Ash grinned and looked at his pal. "Ready, Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, and he leapt off his shoulder.

"PIKACHU!! THUNDER!!"

"Pii-kaaaaa----CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!"

""""WAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAAHH--"""" BOOOOOOOOOOM!! Team Rocket was sent spiraling off into the sky.

"Oh, I can't BELIEVE we were beat this time, I mean, I REALLY can't believe it!" James whined.

"And dat hunk-a junk cost us all our dough!!" added Meowth.

"Oh, shut up and quit rubbing it in!!" snapped Jessie.

"Waaabba!!"

"Oh, quit it!" Jessie recalled her blue pokémon(that is far more intimidating in Mystery Dungeon...shudders).

As the song ended, James looked thoughtful. "Y'know, that song really was a great choice, cuz it really fits," he noticed.

"Yeah, cuz like before..." Meowth said.

"""TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAAIIIIIINNN!!""" the trio screamed as they became nothing but stars in the sky, right in time as the guitar slid up at the end of the song.

GLEEAN!

Ash and co. celebrated, happy that they beat them back once again.

And we hovered there, smiling with crossed arms, before we started to fly off. That's when our jetshoes shorted out. """WWHHHHAAAAHHHHHH!!""" We fell towards the Earth, and landed in a lake. Oh, well. We're the ones cheering; nobody said anything about everything turning out alright for us!

Oh, here it goes, here it goes again!

Oh, oh, here it goes again!

We got onto dry land and whipped out our badges. "Commander!!" I called, trying to contact him.

Some weird purpley-black static came on the screen. It stayed there for the entire minute I tried to contact him. I soon gave up and clapped my badge shut.

BEEP-BEEP!!

"Oh, of course, right as I hang up," I laughed, and I opened it again. "Commander!!"

Commander Kahn's face wasn't there...but he stood up and spun around, giving us our thumbs-up. "YYEEEEAAAAAAHHH!!"

We smiled at each other and nodded.

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

We looked in our badges at Kahn's face as he sat back down on three different screens. "Commander," I asked, "how are we gonna get outta Dodge this time?"

The Commander hummed worriedly, a bit of static distorting the screen for a moment. "Well, it seems that you can't," he said in his deep, serious voice. "It seems that this was a one-time thing. It looks like you're stuck there for awhile."

We gaped in horror at our badges. "But Commander--!" protested Meyers.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "But besides...isn't it strange that the US got to see an episode that would've been only airing in Japan?" he asked.

I blinked. "You...watch this show?" I asked.

"Subs. They're better."

I half-eyed behind my shades. "Figures...Sorry, I like to KNOW what I'm hearing..." (I noticed Ash sounded more like he did when The Dev--er, 4Kids Entertainment dubbed the series than he does now with The Pokémon Company doing it.) I shook my head. "But anyway, I agree, there must be something strange goin' down here for us to get sucked in...well, okay, we jumped in, but..."

Kahn shook his head. "No matter. Your mission now is to try to find out what's going on there, while assisting anyone who calls for help. I...hope that you'll be fine with just the standard gadgets you've got on you?" he asked, sweatdropping a little.

We sweatdropped more, but we nodded back. "We'll be fine, sir," Hunter said.

Kahn nodded. "Then good luck, Agents. Don't let me down! DIS-MISSED!!"

"""YESSIR!""" We snapped our badges shut and put them away, then looked at each other and sighed. "We're screwed," Hunter murmured.

"I don't really like Pokémon that much, but I can live with it for a while," Meyers groaned.

I blushed a bit and put my hand behind my neck. "Well, I like Pokémon, so I'm pretty much ecstatic, really," I confessed.

They looked at me. ""...""

I sweatdropped and laughed uneasilly. "Don't worry, we can hack it on our own. We won't have to bum off Ash and company until we find a town...wait, shiz!" I ruffled in my wallet, which was kept separate from my badge. I gasped as I saw what was inside.

"What, surprised it's all sopping wet?" Meyers asked, smirking and coming over, then he gasped. "What the shell?!"

Red, blue, and yellow bills faced me from my originally green-packed Wallet-of-Funds-to-Dip-into-in-Case-of-Emergencies (WoFtDiiCoE)(TM). I pulled one out gingerly, so as not to rip it from being wet. I saw the familiar Pokédollar symbol on it. "Yep, Pokédollars," I confirmed. "Well, 'least we can buy stuff."

Hunter and Meyers checked their WoFtDiiCoE(TM)'s. They had Pokédollars, too. (For ease of writing, I'll just use the $ as normal.) We shrugged and decided to go on. What we'd do, though, was beyond us. Where would we start? Where would we have the biggest chances of meeting up with strange happenings? And we wanted to help as many people as possible...After discussing, we all came to only ONE conclusion. And even I wasn't going to like it that very much.

Ash and co. had just said farewell to Haji and were walking off. Ash sighed and put his hands behind his head. "Wow...what a day," he said, looking up at the sky. "First meeting Haji, then Team Rocket, and those guys...I forgot to say thank you," he mumbled.

"Pi-ka," agreed Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Well, you really don't have to say thank you, cuz it's our job."

"Huh?!" Ash looked to the side of the road and saw us three coming over, dried and all, in our uniforms still. He smiled and waved. "Hey!! Thanks for helpin' me out back there!"

I chuckled and shook my head. "I just said, no thanks needed, just doin' our job," I repeated, and we stopped by him. "Well, you saw how we came out of that portal thing, right?" I asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, that was something you don't see every day," he commented. "What was that? Are you guys from another planet or something?"

I laughed. "No. A different world, though," I answered, holding one finger up. "An alternate dimention. And, sadly, me and my teammates can't get BACK to said dimention. Not yet, at least. So, seeing as we have NO clue where to go..." Me and the others got down into the Japanese begging position in unison. """Please let us travel with you!!"""

Ash and co. blinked for a second, then Ash smiled. "Well, of course you can come!! You don't have to beg or nothin'!" he told us as if it were silly. "But who are you guys? You said Elite...something earlier," he inquired, looking up a bit in rememberance.

We got up and smirked, then whipped out our badges. "We're the Elite Beat Agents!" I started.

"Whenever people are at the end of their wits, we come in and save the day!" continued Meyers.

"Through the power of song and dance, we fill our targets with energy they need to overcome whatever it is they've gotta do!" finished Hunter.

We put our badges away and I smiled. "You, Ash, were on TV in our world," I said, "and on an episode that really didn't seem scripted. You screamed for help, just like anyone else we help does. A portal opened up on our screens and we jumped in, because, be it in space, underwater, or in another dimention..." We posed. """AGENTS ARE GO!!"""

Dawn and Brock sweatdropped, but Ash laughed. "Man, you guys sure are weird," he said openly, "but you helped me out big-time, so I think it's only fair you can come with us until you get back home." He beckoned as he started to walk off. "What're your names? ...Um, well, codenames?" he asked.

"Agent Lock, lead!"

"Agent Meyers, right backup!"

"Agent Hunter, left backup!"

Ash and co. did their creepy unison "HELLO!!" and introduced themselves, and we became a temporary part of the crew.

(1+2) (3)(4)( )

( )(7)(6)(5)

(8)(9) (11+12)(10)

((Ah) Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes ag-ain)

( 1 2 3 4- () 5 6 7- () 8 9 10 11 12 )

(1+2) Stacked hits

Yeah, crossover into my favorite place!! ;; And suck-ass note chart!! WHEEEEEEEIMONCRACK!! XD Yeah, sorry. Now I've got a problem: I only wanted to do ONE song in the Poké-world, but now I've got 'em stuck...:D FUN!


	5. GO! !

(5)( ) (Reaction) (in) (Reality)

Cheiftan frowned as he heard Commander Kahn's latest order. "You've got to be kidding, Commander," he objected, crossing his arms.

Commander Kahn shook his head. "No, I'm afraid I'm not," he replied. He looked at the seven gathered in the room, his other Agents: Spin, J, Cheiftan, Derek, and Morris, and Starr, Foxx, and Missy of the Divas. "I know, you're all grown men and women who consider watching children's shows a waste of time, but this is our newest recruits we're talking about, here," he said sternly. "We need to keep an eye on them and see if we'll be able to contact them. The way that I see it, the way that world works is that we're able to see important events occuring to the main characters, with whom Lock, Meyers, and Hunter are traveling with, in real time while they happen, jumping in space-time depending on our time and theirs. The subs and dubs that are supposed to air instead are mysteriously all in static, according to several fan sites and a friend inside The Pokémon Company."

Foxx frowned in thought. "So...are we going to be seeing the actual world, or are we going to be seeing what is happening in a parallel universe to the Pokémon anime?" she asked.

Kahn shook his head. "We have no clue, unfortunately." He sighed. "But the point is that we have to keep an eye on them, since, if we strive at it, we can contact them via the vid-phone function on their badges. Agent Foxx, I must again compliment you on your amazing skill with technology," he told the scantilly-clad cheerleader.

Foxx blushed a smidgen. "Well, I had no idea that the reception would be able to reach through dimentions," she humbly stated.

Missy raised her eyebrows. "But doesn't that just prove that we can get to them?" she asked her teammate.

Foxx shook her head, long white hair flopping about. "Sadly, no, but close. The signal our badges give off are energy, which is probably more able to pass through dimentions than matter," she explained. "I still am surprised they can do that. With a full minute's worth of static, sure, but at least it's something," she shrugged.

Cheiftan, still frowning, raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so concerned with these kids, anyway, Commander?" he inquired.

Commander Kahn raised one back. "I would do the same thing for you if you were in the same situation," he answered indirectly.

Cheiftan switched eyebrows, but decided to leave it for now. "So you want us to sit down at the same time each day in front of the television and turn on a cartoon so that we can watch helplessly as our Agents, whom we can't warn of any dangers because of the extreme lag time for contact, travel with a bunch of kids in a weird, stupid world," he instead said, summarizing the orders.

Kahn nodded. "Just be very, very, very glad that they aren't in anything meant for 3-year-olds," he told him. "And also that they aren't on anything meant for their own age group, since that would probably mean they would be in even greater danger. Where they are is perfect: They're reasonably safe--only twice has anyone died on that show, and even then he was immediately brought back to life, both times--and yet there's enough going on that they can still get in practice and help people that the main characters aren't able to help," he explained.

"But then what the heck WE s'posed t'do, huh?" Spin asked, getting a little annoyed that, from the sounds of it, he'd have to be sitting back and watching, twiddling his thumbs. "Nothing? Just be flippin' couch spuds?"

Kahn shook his head. "No. Remember, we're able to contact them, if only after a minute, and so we'll be able to warn them of anything that they need to know about here. Also, we can give them tips that we might think they'll need. And as soon as we know of a way to get them out, we can at least ask to see if they're ready to leave yet."

"Good idea," J agreed, nodding.

Starr looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean by that, J?" she wondered.

J looked at her. "Think, Starr: What if you were in the middle of helping out somebody, when suddenly your performance is cut off because some people wanted you back home right then?" he examplified.

Starr started. "Kapische."

Kahn cleared his throat. "That'll be all. You know what to do now," he announced. "DIS-MISSED!!"

"YESSIR!!" everyone affirmed. [I only write multiple "'s for multiple characters when it's 3 or less, cuz then it just gets annoying. They turned and left.

Cheiftan grumbled as he went along. "I can't believe I've got to sit down every weekday now and watch a kid's show. I don't think they're even going to do much every episode, anyway...just help save some poor defenseless thing and make everyone happy and just nauseating..." He sighed and shook his head. "Nothing I can do about it, though. Oh, well. At least missions are always chances to get out of anything."

He had gotten to his quarters when something occured to him. "Wait...I wonder...We're getting completely English episodes of live material," he mumbled. "Our Agents were the ones to help out Ash...So..." He turned to his television. "...What's happening in Japan?"

-----

"Finally! I'm FINISHED!!"

A Japanese young man jumped for joy after first jumping off his bicycle. He had a diploma in his hand.

(Genyama Kojiro, 19. New college graduate, Masters in Computer Science)

Kojiro smiled as he went into his house. The sign above read "Genyama Souvineirs" in both English and Japanese. 'I can't wait to finally get my dream job!!' he thought joyfully, envisioning the logic problems of programming that he loved so much. 'I'm so glad I spent the extra time making my resumé before school ended!' He opened the door, which jingled. "Mother! Father!! I'm home at last!!" he called upon entering the shop.

A woman rose her head up from the register, then gasped and smiled as she looked who had just walked in. "KOJIRO!!" she squealed. "Come over here, we've been waiting for you to get back!"

Kojiro grinned and raced over.

"WHAT?!"

Kojiro gaped at his family as they all nodded. "That's right, Kojiro," said his father, "you're going to run the family business from now on!" He beamed. "You've already brought such honor for passing your entrance exams on the first try..."

"...Passing every single exam during school..." continued his mother.

"...Passing your final exam with no problem..." added his grandmother.

"...And earning a Master's degree in something really complicated!!" finished his grandfather.

"Now you'll make us the most honorable family in Japan!!" they cheered in unison. Even his little sister grinned and pumped her fists.

Kojiro just knelt there at his end of the table, dumbstruck. "But...I went to college to get a job as a programmer," he told them in a small voice. "I just can't throw all those years of hard work away on a little place like this!"

This wasn't the best choice of words, and it caused everyone to give Kojiro harsh glares. He cowered from them. "This souvinier shop has been taken care of for ever since tourism even began in Japan," his father growled. "It doesn't matter if it's not the job you want--it's the job you HAVE to take, unless...you want to disgrace your entire family."

Kojiro shook in horror at this semi-blackmailing. "But...I put so much time into school..." he whimpered.

"NOT NEARLY AS MUCH TIME AS WE'VE TAKEN CARE OF OUR SHOP--OUR HOME--YOU INGRATE!!" roared his mother.

"This shop is our home and life, Kojiro," his grandmother said, more calm than her daughter, but still not happy.

"Would you go against tradition to persue something so...menial? All you would be doing is wasting your life away in front of a computer," his grandfather tried to appeal. "Here, you can meet new people, be with your family, and have a much more interesting job!"

'Yeah, but the pay's gonna STINK compared to what I wanted!!' Kojiro wanted to say. Instead, he shook and clenched his fists, looking teary-eyed at his family. "I know, guys," he said, "but...I brought us honor for doing so well in school, for applying my brain to solving puzzles. I wouldn't do well as a shopkeep, trust me--"

"It's better to be a lousy shopkeep that continues the family tradition than a deserting pencil-pusher!" his father scolded. "It's final. You're going to work here first thing tomorrow."

Kojiro just gaped, but then hung his head. "...Fine..." he submitted. 'I really should, anyway...I need money before my real job hits, if that happens...and it's my family...' He glanced up at everyone's faces, which were calmed that he'd finally given up. '...They mean everything to me. I can't completely abandon them...'

'...But I can't waste all those years of college!! Heck, why'd they even pay if they were gonna force me to do this, anyway?! I'm going to try and mail my resumé next chance I get...'

A couple days later, he got that chance. "Kojiro?" his father called from upstairs one evening. "Could you come and take these letters to be mailed?"

Kojiro, now wearing a green apron with his family's shop's logo on it over a blue long-sleeve, brightened from being behind the register. 'This is my chance!' "Yes, father!!" he called back, and hurried upstairs.

After he got them, he went to his room. 'Now for my resumé...' But after he'd fished it out and put it in with, he was about to head out when he heard his father say, "Wait, I think I forgot something, let me check!" He turned and froze as his father snatched the bundle in his hand. He rifled through, but then, he stopped, an angry look on his face. He growled and held up the resumé. "I thought we'd cleared this up two nights ago!!" he roared. And then, in front of Kojiro, he ripped up the envelope with the resumé. "Hmph. I think you should also read the news when you get out, too, because then you'd see that it's useless, anyway," he grumbled, giving the rest back to him and shoving him out.

Almost at his limit, Kojiro biked to the post office. "It's hopeless...Almost...I just need to rewrite the resumé and try again..."

Then, he got to the post office and went in. While waiting in line, he grabbed a newspaper to read for later. The headlines in Business when he read it at home made him freeze and tremble in shock.

"New Programmers Out of Luck: Companies like RyuRyu Interactive soon closed to applications"

This was it. 'RyuRyu!? But...That's my favorite game company! I wanted to work there!! And...' he read on. 'So many others...! ONLY THE SUCKY ONES ARE LEFT?! NO...No...this...no...'

He trembled. He shook. He couldn't take it anymore. His family, and now the Man, too, had shattered his dreams...

"O...O..."

He whipped up his head and screamed in desperation,

"OUENDAAAAAAAAANNN!!!"

-----

Break Tradition!! Will Both Parties Be Happy?

Inside the store at that moment were three men dressed in gakuran outfits with lengthened jackets reaching to their knees and white gloves. They consisted of one man with an eyepatch, another with a scarred face, and a younger, teenage man with long black hair with a couple red streaks, one on the bangs and one in back, both off to a side. He had this hair in a ponytail, but a big mess of bangs concealing moderate eyebrows and almost concealing a pair of dark brown eyes hung out in front of his face. He had no facial hair. Upon hearing the cry in back of the store, the three looked at each other and nodded, then ran to the back.

There, Kojiro was trembling, holding the newspaper. "Now...I've got to pick the best three I can and write a resumé for each...and try mailing them all at once?!" he whimpered. "And quickly?! I'll NEVER be able to do it!!"

"Come on! You've got the counter, Kojiro!" his father called. Kojiro just about broke down then and there.

Then, suddenly, the three from before burst into the room and held their arms out.

"""OSU!!"""

At that word, Kojiro felt a flame smash into his being and scorch him with vigor. He clenched his fists tight and gritted his teeth in determination.

Music had begun to play in the background, going through some guitar riffs and now on the words.

We are fighting dreamers! Takami wo meza shite

Fighting dreamers! Narifuri kamawazu

Fighting dreamers! Shinjiru ga mamani

Oli oli oli oh-! Just go my way!

Right here Right now (BANG!)

Buppanase like a dagan LINER!

Right here Right now (BURN!)

Buttakittekuze Get the fire!

Right here Right now (BANG!)

Buppanase like a dagan LINER!

Right here Right now (BURN!)

"""IKOIAH?...SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!!"""

The three began to dance, in a strange way, to the music. They punched the air, threw their arms, and did short versions of the sumo wrestler leg-slam motion while punching the ground, as well as other various moves. But it seemed to work.

Kewashii shura no michi no naka

Hito no chizu wo hirogete doko e yuku?

Gokusaishoku no karasu ga

Sore wo ubaitotte yaburisuteta

Kojiro raced behind the counter and began to, serruptitiously, handwrite three separate resumés underneath the counter, while meanwhile he kept an eye on customers. At first, he glanced down frequently and wrote slow to keep an eye on things and to see what he was writing. Then, he felt so invigorated by the cheering, he began to write at top-speed while still looking like he was just standing there normally, watching the store and such, without ever looking down to see what he wrote, he had that much confidence.

Eventually, he finally had finished them. "Yes!" he hissed, sealing three envelopes. "And I've got the three I want figured out!! Now to go out and mail them..." He picked up some papers to try and hide them. He turned and tried to sneak out.

"Kojiro? Where are you going with those papers?" asked his father as Kojiro tried going out the front door. He was just coming out from the back when he'd seen him.

He froze and thought fast, glancing about. "Uhh--" He glanced at a price tag and had an idea. "--I'm going to collect prices from competing souvineir shops!" he tried, smiling (hopefully) beleivably.

His father raised his eyebrows. "Really, now? Don't disappoint me!!" he warned, and Kojiro ran off.

When he returned after mailing them, Kojiro was confronted by his father. "So?"

Kojiro smiled and held up his papers. "Well, father, I think I know why we've got so many guests leaving lately!" he chuckled as the papers revealed lists of prices from actual stores that he'd actually decided to investigate!

His father paled in horror at them. "Holy shit! No wonder!!" he cried, then hugged his son with big burly arms. "Thank you, Kojiro! Son!!"

Kojiro gasped, red face from the blood pushing into it, "Urk! No...problem!!"

O

Saa kokoro no me mihiraite

Shika to ima wo mikiwamero! (Yeah!)

Ushinau mono nante nai sa

Iza mairou!

A day later, a flustered Kojiro hung up the phone. "Great, I've got three job interviews to go to--WITH WORK IN THE WAY!!" he lamented.

"""OSU!!""" the three repeated, still there.

Again, the firey spirit ignited within Kojiro, and he set to work deciding what to do.

We are fighting dreamers! Takami wo meza shite

Fighting dreamers! Narifuri kamawazu

Fighting dreamers! Shinjiru ga mamani

Oli oli oli oh-! Just go my way!

Right here Right now (BANG!)

Buppanase like a dagan LINER!

Right here Right now (BURN!)

Kojiro was unsure at first what to do, and was pacing about, mumbling about maybe this would...no, not that...this?...no...Then, the fire within reached a boiling point and he felt a huge brainwave come on! Yes! This would work!! No, wait, but this can happen, too!! Yes! Yes! YES!

'I've got it!!' he thought, finally going to his grandparents, who were the head authorities on work. He carried with a bag that contained the suit he would wear for the interviews. "Grandfather, grandmother," he began, bowing, "I would like to go out now and take a walk to my friend's house. He was just on the phone and he really wanted me to come with."

His grandparents looked at each other uncertainly. "You have to work, though," his grandfather protested.

"What will you do to make up for it?" his grandmother asked.

Kojiro smiled and produced something else from the bag. "I'll put up these flyers to advertize our shop!" he offered.

His grandparents' eyes lit up bright. ""Better yet!!"" they chorused, turning, and then, to his dismay, piled three times as many flyers into his arms on top of his own. ""You can post ALL of them up!!""

Kojiro paled and gulped, then shakilly laughed. "Y-yes, sure!!"

Later on, a few hours past, his grandparents decided to go for a walk. While they did, they met up face-to-face with Kojiro, who was walking with a tired look on his face and a low-hanging bag from his arms. "Kojiro! You've been gone for a lot longer than I'd thought you'd be!" his grandmother said in surprise.

His grandfather glared suspiciously. "Did you spend all that time posting up the flyers?"

Kojiro gave a weak smile. "Have a look," he breathed, and weakly lifted his tired arm and pointed over his shoulder. Behind him, on every availible posting place, was a flyer for their shop. "My arms are gonna fall off anytime now from all the posting up!" he laughed.

His grandparents smiled at each other, then at him. "Thank you so much, Kojiro," his grandfather said.

"You're being so loyal to your family!" complimented his grandmother.

Kojiro grinned and blushed, putting a hand behind his neck. 'And I got to every single one of those interviews on time, too!' he mused.

O

Oto wo tatezu shinobiyoru kage ga

Itsumo bokura wo madowaseru

Yuugenjikkou Ooki na kaze ga

Uneri wo agete fuki areru

Then, later that day, someone walked into the shop while Kojiro was busy at the counter. Two someones: An expensively-dressed American and--'The boss of RyuRyu Interactive?!' he exclaimed incredulously in his mind. 'Wait!! I forgot so many things in my interview yesterday from the pressure!! I've got to get these in now, it's my last chance!!' He went to try and talk to him, but he was stopped.

"Kojiro!" his mother shouted. He turned and faced her. She pointed to the American. "Help that wealthy customer!! NOW!!"

Kojiro squeaked and looked helplessly between the two he had to see. "But how will I balance both of them at once?!"

"""OSU!!"""

Kazahita surudoi katana de

Onore no asu Kirihirake! (Yeah!)

Hoshounante doko ni mo nai sa

Naa sou daro!?

We are fighting dreamers! Takami wo meza shite

Fighting dreamers! Narifuri kamawazu

Fighting dreamers! Shinjiru ga mamani

Oli oli oli oh-! Just go my way!

Right here Right now (BANG!)

Buppanase like a dagan LINER!

Right here Right now (BURN!)

Buttakittekuze Get the fire!

Right here Right now (BANG!)

Buppanase like a dagan LINER!

Right here Right now (BURN!)

Buttakittekuze Get the fire!

Kojiro first went to the American and began talking and walking, showing him the stuff they had, while expertly guiding them to the boss of the company that he wanted to be in. He said that he needed to talk to him, too, so he walked and talked with both simultaneously. From there came the challange of talking to both equally. At first, he had a little trouble, as he was talking more to the boss and less to the customer, finding it difficult to balance both, but then, he became full of courage and enthusiasm. He then talked to both equally, first going to one, then the other, somehow able to balance both at the same time.

The following happened lightning-fast, however long it seemed.

"...So, you want a good gift for your wife, too?" Kojiro asked the American in English. He nodded back. "Does she like cooking?" A nod. "Then you will have to glance over here, since we've got a great amount of stuff she might like to try!" he proudly crowed, pointing to all sorts of recipie books, Japanese-built cookware, and all sorts.

While his customer's back was turned, Kojiro turned to the boss. "As you were saying?" he asked in his native tounge.

His potential boss crossed his arms and asked, "Your requested minimum wages are surprisingly low. Why is that? You were so nervous that you didn't seem to hear me when I asked."

As quick as a flash, Kojiro spun back around just a split second before the man got up and asked, "What's this?" while pointing to something. He explained what it was, which then disinterested the customer, who now had a cookbook with his bundle of other stuff, who got up again. "She's more of a gardener than a cook, actually, and I hear you guys like flower arrangin' or somethin'?" he asked.

"Right this way!" he chimed in English, and while he was guiding the customer, answered, "I don't want to seem arrogant with a high price for a first job," in Japanese to the boss.

The boss smiled at this. "Wise, indeed."

Finally, the customer said, "I think I'm finished! This flower arrangement guide would help her a lot!" as he proceeded to the counter.

Kojiro was about to run to it when he saw his mother there, smiling proudly. Before he could wonder why, the boss asked, "One last thing: Do you consider your family important?"

Kojiro smiled broadly and declared, "My family is as important to me as inspiration is to an artist!!" This made the boss smile broader.

At this, his mother, done with the customer, beamed. "You've made me so proud, Kojiro!!" she praised her son.

Kojiro grinned sheepishly and put his hand behind his neck again.

O

We are fighting Dreamers kono makama-tachi to

Fighting dreamers subete wo makikomi

Fighting dreamers kokorozashi takaku

Oli oli oli oh-!

The next day, the mail came in through the slot, and Kojiro, there with his little sister alone while the adults were out getting more for stocking the store, gasped as he saw what envelopes were there. "My--" he began, but his sister grabbed them and looked at them.

She gasped and giggled maliciously. "Ooooh, you're gonna get BUSTED!!" she squealed, waving the envelopes, then scramed.

Kojiro sweat-dropped. "Oh, no..."

"""OSU!!"""

We are fighting dreamers! Takami wo meza shite

Fighting dreamers! Narifuri kamawazu

Fighting dreamers! Shinjiru ga mamani

Oli oli oli oh-! Just go my way!

(Don't forget your first impulse ever!)

Go my way! (Let's keep your adventurous ever!)

Go my way...(Don't forget your first impulse ever)

(Let's keep your adventurous ever)

GO!!

At first, he lunged, grabbed the letters, and was at a tug-o-war with her for them. Then, he was dragging her back with his determination to get them back from her. 'There's no way I'll let it all blow up now!!' he thought to himself during this.

The door jingled and then the adults all came in. They saw the two tugging at the letters with each other. "What's all this about?" asked the father, who came forward and grabbed the letters from between them. He paled as he silently read the opened ones addressed to Kojiro.

Kojiro gaped, pale. "F-father, please, I...I...I need to see those!!" he begged.

His father sighed and just gave them to him. "Fine."

Kojiro blinked in surprise, but then got the two letters. He gasped when he saw that both were actually from the two second choices he'd made earlier for his resumés to go off to. "I've been accepted for BOTH?!" he exclaimed. But then he saw nothing from RyuRyu, and sighed in defeat. "They were probably closed for it..." he muttered.

A knock came on the still-open door behind them, and they turned and saw the boss for RyuRyu Interactive standing there, smiling. Kojiro dropped his jaw, then hastilly put it up again. The boss smiled. "Sorry if I'm intruding on something," he appologized, "but I'm here for that young man right there." He smiled and strode over to him. "Genyama Kojiro, correct?" he asked.

Kojiro nodded. "Y-yessir..."

The boss smiled. "I was a little late in my decision and couldn't send in the letter so that it would reach here with the mail today, as those two other cheapskate companies would have," he alibied, "so I'm here to give it to you in person. And how conveinent your family is already here to listen!" He grinned. "If your ability proven to be very high from before in the interview and resumé wasn't enough, then the final proof of capability with that fantastic multitasking between me and that American was!" He clapped his hand on the young man's shoulder. "You, my boy, are welcome to join us as a cheif programmer, with a fine salary, indeed!!"

Kojiro gasped, then grinned, then almost exploded into joy when suddenly he remembered something. Guiltilly, he looked around at his family. They gave him blank faces. He sighed and nodded. "Excuse me," he asked the boss, "but...I have to help my family with their business here. Could there possibly be a way for me to take this wonderful job offer and yet still honor my family's wishes to manage the shop?" His family made a mass "HUH?" face at this.

The boss looked a little surprised, but then smiled. "I had a feeling about this," he chuckled. He nodded. "Of course, of course, you can have shorter days where you spend the rest of your other worktime working here, at your family's shop. Your love for your family is another major deciding factor for this job, because we at RyuRyu Interactive value a happy family. A happy family means a happy customer, you see!" He grinned.

Kojiro nearly cried with joy. "Is this...acceptible?" he asked his family eagerly.

His mother, father, and grandparents all looked at one another, then smilingly nodded. "You have our blessing," said his grandfather.

Kojiro gasped and stretched his mouth from ear to ear in a wide smile. "Oh, THANK you!! THANK YOU!!" he cried, actually crying. "My dreams have finally come true!! And without a single case of hurt feelings!!"

Right here Right now (BANG!)

Buppanase like a dagan LINER!

Right here Right now (BURN!)

Buttakittekuze Get the fire!

Right here Right now (BANG!)

Buppanase like a dagan LINER!

Right here Right now (BURN!)

Buttakittekuze Get the fire! BAM!

The next day saw Kojiro at his new work, in proper work clothes, smiling as he worked at his computer and thinking about his happy family.

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

"WHOOF!!" sighed the young black-haired Ouendan of Evening Town as he fell back against the couch. He was now back at the dojo in which he and the other Evening Town Ouendan resided as a base. It was not all that much, but it was something. "That was amazing! Two days of cheering him on...it all seemed so fast...Amazing..." He had a young voice, since he was still pretty young, and a good one, a nice tenor.

"That's what it's like to be an Ouendan, Kioshi," said Saito, his first backup, who sat down next to him. "You led fantastically well for your first real cheer."

Kioshi chuckled and blushed, putting HIS hand behind his neck. "Well, I wasn't perfect, but..."

"You did your best," Suzuki, the second backup, told him, sitting down as well. "That's what makes that cheer great. Without all of your heart and soul into it, you wouldn't have been able to cheer that guy on to putting that extra effort into doing what he did."

Saito nodded. "It's true. You see, he could have just lied to his father and grandparents and not have gone out of his way for the shop that he didn't want to be in, but your cheering from the heart combined with his own heart, which was obviously full of love for his family, to encourage him to exert himself. In return, things went great for him."

"And for that handling the two important people at once...that was magnificent how you managed to work his courage up so high so that he had the guts to try juggling the two," added Suzuki. They both patted Kioshi on the shoulder. "You're a natural-born Ouendan, Kioshi!" he smiled.

Kioshi blushed deeper. "Naw, that was just beginner's luck, that's all!" he humbled himself, and the two men by him laughed. Before anyone could say anything, though, Kioshi's watch beeped. He gasped. "Oh, no, I've got to go home, now," he moaned.

"A pity," said a voice. The three stood immediately and faced their leader, Doumeki Ken[? I forget... He stood dignifiedly, serious face on. "I was going to give my own congratulations and praise for a job well-done, Matsumura Kioshi."

Kioshi bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Doumeki-sama," he replied. "But I still cannot believe that that was what all happened, thanks to my leading our cheer."

Doumeki nodded. "It did happen, Kioshi," he assured him, "because of your prodigious ability and passion for cheering. I realize, however, that you have to leave for home. Before you go, I would like to wish you good luck on whatever may come your way, good job on what you've accomplished, and that you remember to follow your heart in all choices."

Kioshi blinked at this strange way to say goodbye to someone who would be back next week. He decided not to look into it, though, and thanked his leader back before leaving and gathering his stuff. Then, he left the dojo, saying goodbye to everyone he saw.

/ \

/( ) (2)/ \( ) (3\

/ (9) (5) ))

(( (10) (6) (4)()/

\ \ (8) (7)

\(1)

(O- li o- li o- li oh- ! Ju- ust go- o my- y way!)

(1- () 2- () 3- - -- ()4 5 6 7 8 9 10 )

Return arrow

I hope that this makes some sense. It'd be like kinda like on "Let's Dance" on Sweatin' for the choruses, they have those tricky one-and-one-and notes at "Trem-ble like a flower!!" if you know what I'm trying to say; another similar example is at the end of JJF on Sweatin', those two sets of 15 notes before the spinner everyone appears to hate. Anyway, was just real surprised this one wasn't in Ouendan 2, so yeah. Yes, I'm sticking in the Ouendan despite me not having either Ouendan game. I'm a freak, so sue me :P

(And expect a LOT of anime music for the Ouendan chapters, since I don't know all that much J-music! ;; As well as a few that prolly wouldn't be god choices. Sorry! ; )


	6. Taiyo no Mannaka he

(6)( ) (Something's) (Wrong) (Here)

"Hey, I wonder if this one's also messed up..." Missy muttered, looking at the shows scheduled to come on her tv, thanks to her pricey cable service. She smiled. "I like that one, surprised it's on today. It'd be cool to see if there's a 'new' episode!" she giggled, and turned off the tv.

Later on, she returned and turned it on. After the intro, she squealed in delight. "OOOH! It IS screwed up!" She jumped onto the couch and adjusted her glasses/shades as she watched. "Wonder who it is, this time..."

Kioshi sighed in releif as he put down the phone. "I've got today off from the Ouendan!" he cheered. "Yes!" He pumped his fist in joy. "I just REALLY don't feel like it at all today!" It was understandible. The weather was crummy and hot and he'd had to sit through his sister as she talked about the latest episode in the drama "Roller Coaster of Her Life," as Kioshi put it. He didn't feel much like cheering at all; in fact, he felt the opposite.

It was Sunday, and he eagerly awaited the day's episode of what we in America know as Pokémon Chronicles[spacing on the Jap. name, sorry ;; . He'd seen them all before, but he still liked them. Finally, the time came, and he sat down in front of the television to watch it.

You would imagine his surprise as he saw that it was not a rerun.

"So," said Kai[I REMEMBERED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT LAST NIGHT!! XD, fingering his beard a little as he looked at the two young people in front of him. They were dressed in blue, military-style outfits. An insigna on their jackets bore "EN" within an "O," encompassed by a U of laurels. One had short, slicked white hair and a scar to the right side of his right eye, and these eyes were blue, underneath thick eyebrows. The other was, to Kai's great surprise, female, but still dressed the exact same way as the one next to her. She had medium brunette hair that concealed half of her face--the right half--and was pinned back so that it kept that way. The eye that was visible was blue-green, with no makeup around it, and was underneath a thin eyebrow. She wore light pink lipstick and very subtle blush. Both stood at attention.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Why are you two here instead of with the other team?" he inquired, crossing his arms.

The boy replied, "I wanted to join up here because I heard that another young person is here. One my age. Sir."

Kai nodded. "I see," he replied. He looked at the girl. "And you?"

The girl answered with a nod, "I was thrown out because of an argument with my former leader on letting me wear a boy's uniform," very curtly. "I assure you, sir, that I am an excellent cheerer, but I absolutly refuse to equip Western cheerleader garb. I believe wearing white gloves draws enough attention to not have to resort to pompoms. No offense, sir."

Kai sighed and bowed his head a little in thought. "It appears you're quite spunky," he observed. He nodded and looked at the girl. "We'll see. But both of you," he continued, looking at the two, "does your current or at least former leader know about this? And will he become angry?"

The two nodded, then shook their heads, in unison. "Sir, I merely told him that I would see if I may join, and if I couldn't, would return," the boy said. "I was given permission by him to leave the Morning Town squad if I was accepted here."

"And he kicked me out," repeated the girl. "He wouldn't be mad if I joined here."

Kai thought for a moment. He lifted his head finally and said, "We shall see if you are good enough to join. I feel charitible right now, and would otherwise be a lot more reluctant to allow in new recruits from our former rivals." He moved aside, showing them the door to their dojo. "You may come inside, to look around, but do not be long. I must prepare a proper test to see if you are good enough."

The two bowed. ""Thank you, Doumeki-san!!"" They then entered within. The dojo was pretty basic, except, because they may need to run out in case of a call coming, there was no spot to remove shoes. Everyone wore them at all times. There was a main room with a couch and a tv, as well as a low table for eating.

Sitting and watching television was Hajime, who was just flipping through channels, bored. He had no hat on at the moment. He looked up as the blue-garbed teens came near and raised his eyebrows. "And who may you two be?" he inquired.

They stopped and bowed. "Ishinomori Hibiki," informed the boy.

"Baisotei Suzu," introduced the girl.

Hajime frowned a little. "Thanks, but I also meant who you are in terms of occupation..."

Hibiki nodded. "We are two--one hopeful-former and one former--Morning Town squad members," he answered. "We have come to seek membership here."

Hajime smirked. "Well, to start off, you're going to have to stop talking like you're in the army all the time," he advised them. "It's important to be respectful, but when you're not cheering and are just going around, loosen up." He turned to the television and flipped a few more.

"WAIT! Go back!!" cried Suzu suddenly.

Hajime stopped flipping, raising an eyebrow. "Okay..." He slowly flipped back until Suzu said to stop. "...It's just Pokémon...New episode or something?" he asked her.

Suzu gaped. "One that shouldn't be..."

"What...?" asked Kioshi softly, watching as the screen faded in on a rock-filled valley. "This is new!! I've watched all the episodes already...what...?"

-----

The camera panned down along the valley until it came to one place. Gigantic sculptures of charizard were seen around as a ton of HUGE charizards flew, slept, ate, and played around in their own ways. One charizard, though, in particular, was standing out pretty well. He was currently scuffling with another charizard, one larger than he was, and I mean that in terms of, like, TWICE the size. This smaller charizard was the smallest in the entire valley.

The smaller charizard was sent skidding back from a mighty Slam attack, so far that he crashed backwards into a wall. The larger one scoffed, snorting out a small ember. "Weakling," it said, or at least it was translated below in subtitles. It still spoke normal charizard...ese.

The small one growled as it got up. "Sh-shut up!!" he spat, and sent a Flamethrower at the other one.

The large charizard (I'm gonna get sick of that...) just let it hit, then sighed a "Why me?" sigh before letting rip an extremely powerful Flamethrower that engulfed the smaller charizard. After it was finished, the smaller one was blackened from the heat. The big one then walked off in a huff, its snout up in the air in disappointment.

The other one slammed down to the ground, punching it with all his might. "Dang it!!" he roared.

("Charizard?? OT Satoshi[Ash" was seen onscreen to only the Ouendan and any Agents watching. This caused eyebrow raises from all who saw it. "HEL-lo, what have we here?" Missy asked, crossing her arms and wondering if she should go in. However, for some inexplicable reason, the episode was all in Japanese, with subtitles in English(and Japanese for the Charizard speech).)

Charizard looked up to the sky after shaking the soot off of his body. "Why can't I do it?!" he demanded to know from nobody in particular. "Why? I'm strong! I know it!!" He roared and sent a Mega Punch into the rock at his feet, shattering the surface and sending bits flying all over. "But DAMMIT, WHY can't I beat almost anyone still?! I've gotten stronger--a lot stronger!!" He looked away, and a flashback appeared of him and Ash at the first Fronteir Brain battle against Noland[I ALMOST HAD HIM!! ALMOST!! I JUST MADE A FLUKE!! ARGH!!. "I even beat an Articuno, for cryin' out loud!!" He growled and shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut in rage. "But I've only defeated ONE other charizard here, and he was the weakest one." He grumbled in rage and fury, frustration flowing through him. "I'm sure Liza [don't know Jap. name is starting to get annoyed with me, too, and I hope Charla isn't," he added, walking off into his cave. "I've just got to prove that I'm stronger than anyone else here...But how?" He looked forlornly up at the sky. "I remember how humiliated I was when I first came here...and I'm getting humiliated again. It's really tickin' me off!!" In his anger, he began to Thrash around.

As he did, the narrator began: "A while back, Satoshi left his Charizard here in the Charicific Valley, a place where wild charizard live and grow in peace. No human may enter it. The wild charizard are enormous in both size and strength, and although Satoshi's Charizard has an impressive victory under its belt against a real live Articuno back at the Battle Fronteir, it still has only beaten ONE other charizard here! You can imagine why it is so frustrated right now."

Suddenly, he heard a human girl's scream. He gasped and looked. "Liza!" He took off, not many other charizard doing the same. When he got to where he knew Liza, the girl who helped defend the Charicific Valley, lived.

"But it seems that today, getting stronger won't be the only frustration that it must deal with," the narrator added.

Charizard looked down as he approached and gasped. "What the--?! Who the heck are those guys?"

Below, many men in scruffy, ragtag outfits were scrambling about, each one armed with a pack that had a hose attached to it. Beside one of them was, tied up and now gagged, Liza. She was squirming against her bonds violently, trying to break free.

"Heh-heh!" one of the men went, looking around. "Sorry to intrude here, miss, but there's some quality charizard to be had here!"

Another grinned and kicked her. "But it looks like you're a bit tied up with other things, eh?" he joked, and the men who heard him laughed.

Charizard growled. 'Poachers!!' he realized, and soared down, roaring. "YOU STAY AWAY, CREEPS!!"

One of the men saw him coming and frowned. "Well, lookie here, guys, a runt," he said, pointing. He then aimed the hose at him. "Go away! We don't need you!!" he shouted, and fired an intense blast of water at Charizard.

Charizard tried to dodge, but found he had many other hoses to deal with. He put up a good fight, but was eventually hit. "AAAAARRGGH!!" he cried, getting knocked out of the air. He was constantly hosed as he went down. With a crash, he made a 5-point landing and lay there, weak and shaky. 'No...I can't be captured!!' he thought panikilly. 'Those bastards...using those backpack things instead of fighting with other pokémon like good trainers...so cheap!!' He struggled to get up, but the water really had weakened him.

(At this point, Missy raised an eyebrow. "This seems odd," she mumbled.)

The poachers laughed and shouted to each other as the enormous crowd started to stampede by him. "Don't bother with that thing! It's weaker than weak!!" one voice said as they passed.

This was a low blow to Charizard. 'Rejected...even by poachers?!' he thought in horror. 'I'm not THAT weak!! I...'

Suddenly, he heard sounds of water being splashed around and roars of pain. He looked back and saw other charizard getting hit...AND CAPTURED IN BALLS!! "NO!!" he cried, and struggled to get up. He slipped, though, and landed smack on his face.

This was too much. The frustration of being so weak compared to the other charizard...being struck down by so many...ignored by poachers even though he was fair game, that's an insult...and now he can't do anything while the others were being captured?! His frustration had reached far past boiling point. He was at the end of his own rope, overwhelmed by it. Floundering around as it grew, his frustration made him feel like he would explode!!

"O...O!!..."

Raising his head up, he took an almighty roar that could be understood by humans hearing him instead of reading subtitles:

"OOUEENDAAAAAAAAAAAN!!"

-----

As soon as Charizard was sent crashing down to the ground, Kioshi jumped up and raced to his closet. He pulled out his gakuran with almost superhuman speed and put it on with the very same agility level. As he raced to put on his shoes, his mother entered the room and put her hands on her hips. "And why are you in such a big hurry?" she asked.

"I'll soon be called to duty, which I must respond to whether I like it or not," he explained quickly, and raced to the television again. 'I can't believe I'm doing this,' he thought, amazed he was reacting to an anime. 'But, then, something's wrong with this picture in the first place...' He gasped as he saw a strange portal appear in front of the screen.

"Kioshi!!" cried his mother as he jumped into it. With an electric crackle and a small thunderclap, the portal flashed shut as soon as it had devoured her son. She just stood in shock, then gulped as she heard the roar of anguish and frustration from the dragon-like pokémon onscreen.

Use the Anger! Rescue Those Who Scorned You!!

Charizard struggled to a paws-and-knees position, shaking from the weakness the water had left him in. He looked ahead and grimaced. "They just left Liza there?! ...D-Dammit!!" he growled, burning with frustration. He just stayed there, trembling with weakness and, especially, emotion.

Suddenly, a portal opened up behind him and down dropped--to every Agent's/Diva's and Ouendan's surprise--Kioshi as music began in the background, starting with a guitar riff, then combined guitar and strings. Kioshi was alone. Absolutely solo. But regardless of his situation, the young Ouendan member thrust out his arm, pointing with his index and middle fingers, and cried, "OSU!!"

Instantly, that word filled Charizard with fighting spirit, pushing back his frustration and causing a small fire to light in his eyes. He clenched a claw as it appeared flames were leaping around him...not so much as Kojiro, but still strong ones. "GOOOOOOOOO!!!" he roared.

Sliding into position from stage left while he did was Kioshi. He stood straight, arms crossed, and began. "IKOIA?!...SAN! NI! ICHI!! SURE!!"

Darekaga imahora yobukoe gasuru

Kazamidori ga ibasho wo tsugeteiru

Suwarikonda kono saka no tochuu de

Sora wo tobetara ii na to tsubuyaita

People all over Japan were surprised to hear one of Eureka Seven's opening themes play from Pokémon, "Taiyo no Mannaka he," or "To the Center of the Sun." The screen shifted between showing Charizard and Kioshi. Kioshi was doing his best, flailing his body about precisely at the rhythms he'd practiced, and with plenty enthusiasm, but still, he could just get Charizard to merely jog his way to Liza. He wasn't crawling, but he wasn't flying, either.

Kioshi was a little concerned as he saw that his target wasn't doing more than mediocre, with his cheering alone, at least. 'I knew it! I'm only mediocre myself...I can't cheer someone along alone as well as I can with two others by me...' He reached the end of the segment when Charizard finally reached Liza.

Liza was bound with rope so much that it literally coiled around her and made her look like she was caught in a wrapper. She was also gagged with a tightly-tied handkercheif. Charizard arrived and quickly sent a vertical Scratch to cut away the ropes and gag. When free of them, she cried his name in surprise.

Charizard then gawked in annoyance at the metal rings that were concealed underneath the rope acting as secondary restraints. He growled and then quickly swept his head down while spewing an intense, but small and miniscule, stream of flame. As he passed, a white-hot band appeared on each metal ring.

"Thanks!!" Liza said as she burst the weakened metal bindings. She reached into her bag and pulled out a green bottle and sprayed it all over Charizard. "So much power and so focused--Amazing!" she commented while healing him.

'FULL RESTORE!!' "Thank YOU!!" Charizard bugled in delight as his weakness faded and he felt like he could take on a thousand Blastoise.

O

Hatenai yume to hate aru ima to

Wasurenai hibi wasuretai hibi

Nakushita mono ga fueta samishisa wo

Migaru ni nareta n da to waraeru kai?

Kioshi tried to remain straight-faced, but his worry that he wasn't doing a good job and that he wasn't good enough pulled at him. He raced after Charizard as he took off.

"Great! Those bozos have cleared out!!" the pokémon complained, looking left and right as he went higher.

"OSU!!"

I wanna fly away kotae wo motomete

instrumental

[Yes, short, there has to be a short spot in this song, but it's so good! Charizard wasn't fluttering about in frustration, nor was he rocketing off and looking left and right with reasonable time between directions. He was just flying normally and looking both ways below rather rushed and inprecise.

Finally, he found the crowd below as they sprayed water and captured some charizard. "Gotcha!!" he cried, and shot down into a dive.

The men looked up and saw him. "The runt returns!!" they .

laughed, and fired water at him again.

Charizard growled and grinned. "Not THIS time!" he rumbled, weaving between the streams with characteristic serpentine grace. Not a single drop landed on him as he dodged them. Then, up close, he roared and launched, "BLAST BURN!!"

The flames seared out of him, scorching the bandits and the balls holding his brethren. They appeared in the air and on the ground around them. However, two more men, who had been out and getting more of their quarry, came from either side and tried to drench Charizard. "Quick! While it's resting!!" one cried.

Charizard panted, but saw this attack coming and rebelled. He did a loop and launched a double-Flamethrower at the two. "I don't NEED no stinkin' recharge!!" he boasted, landing out of the loop as more charizard were released.

The freed wild pokémon looked at Ash's most powerful fire-type. "Not half bad!" commented the largest among them.

Charizard grinned to himself as he flew on. 'About damn time!' he mused.

O

Kizuitayo ayamachi mo kuyashisa mo hane ni natte

Karadajuu kazekanji soshite ima te wo hirogete

By now, Kioshi was losing a little more confidence, still focused on his not-too-bad-but-not-good performance. 'I can't go on like this alone much more!! I feel like the one who needs cheering, now!!' he thought panickedly as he ran and skidded to a halt in a good place while Charizard began his next task.

Charizard growled as he caught sight of the other ones. "They're getting to all the rare black charizard at the hot springs!!" He yiped as a blast of electric water burst from his right, nearly hitting him. "Woah!! Why haven't they been using that stuff to begin with?!" he wondered aloud, now more frustrated with the added danger before him.

Kioshi gulped and thrust his arm out again...

"""OSU!!""" cried three voices in unison. Surprised, Kioshi glanced to either side of him and saw the blue-clad teenagers following his motion. He felt such releif that he smiled, but then straightened it to be serious again. With one glance, the three nodded and began.

Hearing the three voices in unison, Charizard's eyes ignited into two mini bonfires. The flames around him roared up into the sky, and his roar of "GOOOOOOOOOO!!" was deafening. He held both fists and launched a Flamethrower to the sky, arching his body a la DBZ going-super-sayin(sorry for any mis-spellings, DBZ fans ;; ), before beginning his task.

Taiyou no mannaka e ima ore wa toberu darou

Kanashimi no yoru wo nuke ima yorimo toberu darou

I CAN FLY AWAY!!

As the three Ouendan did the chorus with burning passion, their leader now back on the ball, Charizard immediately began flying around with burning fervor, letting his frustration combine with reason to give him strength and guidance to dodge the blasts with ease and fire a constant Flamethrower down at the attackers, releasing other charizard as he did so.

Then, with feirce speed and power, Charizard streaked down and went into an amazing Aerial Ace attack, dodging everything in his way while sending a Flamethrower in front so that he charged in fire at the attackers. He bowled them all over with one pass, releasing everyone as he did. As he flew off, he heard roars of thanks and impression behind him. He grinned again.

O

Puraido toka mie de dekaita

Torikago wo ima ketobashiteyaru

Charizard made it to the hot springs and roared in rage as he saw there were no shiny charizard at all. "WHERE ARE THEY?!" he damanded of the five remaining poachers.

The lead one smirked. "So, the runt wants to tango?" he asked. "GET 'IM!!" he cried, and everyone released six pokéballs into the water. They opened up, and Charizard now had THIRTY Lanturn looking at him. "HYDRO PUMP AND THUNDERBOLT TOGETHER!! ALL OF YOU!!" commanded the main guy.

Charizard paled as the attacks screamed at him. 'Well, I DID want to fight other pokémon...'

Kioshi, Hibiki, and Suzu screeched to a halt on the cliff overlooking this and thrust out their arms. """OSU!!!"""

Isshun no shoudou wa eien no gekidou

Sono basho kara tobu nara ima hora!

Maiagare kanashimi mo yorokobi mo chikara ni naru

Kurikaesu machigai mo susumu tame no hikari ni naru

Onboro no tsubasa demo jibun rashiki tobeba ii

Charizard felt the blaze in his soul and raced around, dodging every attack and launching a feirce Flamethrower at the Lanturn, so powerful that each one he hit full-force was knocked out.

Then, tired of it all, Charizard roared, "ENOUGH!!" and sent a Heat Wave at them all. The remaining Lanturn were crispy-fried and knocked out without a doubt. After that, Charizard faced the five up on the ledge above where the biggest black charizard sat his mighty ass often. "And now for you," he growled, and spat a Fire Blast so enormous, the kanji of flame could be seen for miles high with clarity.

The five focused blasts of electric water at it, but it fought and burst through, striking all of them and blowing their packs up, sending them flying as the balls with the black charizard all fell and burst from the flame. All of them were released in the comfortingly scalding hot springs or around them, and the big one reappeared on his ledge.

Charizard, hovering and panting ever so slightly, looked up into the dark red eyes. The shiny charizard looked back. And grinned. "When you're this big," he rumbled, a few loose stones rattling off his ledge, "you see many things, even through a pokéball. You have done fantastically well and rescued us all, despite our mocking you for your weakness."

Charizard gaped in astonishment at the compliment from someone so high in rank, then grinned mischeivously. "Hey, it ticked me off, so I went on a rampage and saved the day," he reasoned, shrugging like it was no big deal.

The large, dark-scaled pokémon raised an eyeridge at this.

Later on that day, Charizard was going up against three other normal charizard who had challanged him. He did the "bring it" motion with his paw, and the three attacked. With amazing speed and agility, Charizard evaded them all, and with astounding power, spun and used a chain of attacks: Slam on one, Fire Punch on another, and finally Seismic Toss on the largest. All three grunted and got up weakly. "Heh..." went the largest, grinning wearilly. "How did you get so powerful?"

Charizard smirked feircly back. "When you've got as hot a head as I do," he returned, "nobody can stand in your way once you use it!"

Taiyou no mannaka e

I CAN FLY AWAY!!

Charizard could later be seen Flamethrowering an opponent down below while other charizard cheered him on in the background around cliffs and such. Charla, the bow-wearing charizard Liza owned, crossed her arms and smirked at him, while Liza herself smiled proudly from a distance on a cliff.

But outside the gates to the valley stood the three Ouendan. They stood, watching their target as he and the three others scuffled away.

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

As they began to walk off, Kioshi looked to the two other Ouendan. "Thank you," he said, bowing.

They stopped and bowed back. "It was our pleasure," replied Hibiki.

"A true cheer is nearly nothing without some backup," Suzu pointed out. "Nearly."

Kioshi shook his head. "I couldn't've gone on much longer had you two not arrived," he confessed. "I just can't handle this alone. I'm okay, but not the best..." He bowed his head.

Hibiki put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up into his eyes. "You're one of the best Ouendan I've seen in my life," he complimented. "You just lack...something. I can't quite place it."

Kioshi raised an eyebrow. He sensed this to be a lie, but said nothing about it. 'What am I lacking? Tell me!!' He instead nodded. "I'll just have to restock in that department when I know what it is," he said. He raised his other eyebrow. "How the heck did you two get here, anyway?" he asked.

Hibiki took his hand off and stepped back beside Suzu. "Suzu?"

"Yes," she nodded, and began...

"Dang it!!" Suzuki roared, shaking the television. "LET--US--IN!!"

"Suzuki, please," begged Saito, grabbing him and pulling him away. "We have to watch only. There's no way we can get in."

Suzuki set his mouth into a worried line. "But he needs backup! He's not all that confident yet!" he objected.

Meanwhile, Suzu and Hibiki conferred with one another. After a while, they nodded and turned to the television. Mustering all their will, they both thrust an arm out and shouted, ""OSU!!""

Instantly, a portal opened up in front of the television. It was flickery, though, and wouldn't hold that long. In an instant, the two young cheerleaders dove into the world of Pokémon. Suzuki and Saito blanched. ""HEY!! WE'RE HIS BACKUPS!!"" they protested.

"But they do need to be tested," pointed out Kai, who had been watching the spectacle since the song began. He nodded. "We'll see what we can do afterwards. But for now..."

"...And that's that," she ended. She looked around. "And now, let's see if we passed..." She looked to Hibiki. "Think it'll work again?" she asked.

"One way to find out," he replied. They both turned and thrust their arms out, ""OSU!!""

Their cry echoed from the canyon walls, and a few bird pokémon cawed. Nothing more. Sweatdropping, the Morning Town dropouts tried again. Nothing. A third time, and Kioshi, catching on, joined them. And still, nothing.

Slowly, the three faced each other. "We have only a little money..." Hibiki began.

"...just these clothes..." Suzu continued.

"...and no way home," ended Kioshi.

All three twitched an eye, but then sighed, drooping their upper bodies down a little. "Best we make the most of it," Kioshi said weakly.

Suzu raised her upper body and put a finger on her chin in thought. "You know...the recent episode of the normal series of Pokémon was quite different," she remembered. The boys cocked their heads in askance. She kept her pose. "Well, I remember that Satoshi and company needed help, and Satoshi, shocking me and other smart Pokémon fans, cried out for help at the top of his lungs, much like someone does when calling for us. But in English, and simply saying, 'Help,' really, really loud." She looked up at them. "Then, you wouldn't believe who came."

After a moment, the boys realized they had to figure it out. Suddenly, Kioshi gasped and snapped his fingers. "Our western counterparts!!" he answered.

Suzu nodded. "Correct. And later in the episode, they said that they needed to go with Satoshi because they couldn't go back to their--our--world," she continued. She looked around. "It appears that we are in the same situation. No way home, three cheerers, and in the world of Pokémon."

Hibiki raised his eyebrows. Kioshi dropped his jaw. "What will we do?" Hibiki asked.

Suzu shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. She looked around again. "Do what they did, I suppose, and go around looking for people in need to cheer. Perhaps we can find a way to meet up with them...?"

Kioshi shook his head. "We'd have to go and find a way to Sinnoh," he reminded her. "We're in Jhoto."

Hibiki held up a finger. "Jasmine[?? Jap. was present in the Diamond and Pearl video games, remember?" he reminded them. "I don't really watch the show, but I play the games, 'cuz they're quite interesting and different from other RPG's," he explained. "But anyway, remember that someone on the bit of land availible after defeating the Elite Four spoke like you weren't in Sinnoh anymore." He looked at both of them, first one, then the other. "I'm trying to say, perhaps we're very close to Sinnoh?"

Suzu and Kioshi started in surprise. "You're right!" Kioshi exclaimed. "That's a great idea! Yow, maybe I should pick up the games after all..."

Suzu tilted her head. "Now, let's not jump to any conclusions, here," she warned. "Why not we visit a city or town and find a world map so that we can find where Sinnoh is compared to us?"

The two boys looked at each other, then nodded. "Good plan," Kioshi agreed. "Let's get going."

And so the three, Kioshi leading Suzu and Hibiki, went down the path towards a town with nothing but some money in their pockets and the uniforms on their backs.

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(#) set 1 (ie, yellow-orange)

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# set 4 (ie, green) (That is, if dA doesn't think it's an HTML code...it might be)

You wouldn't BELIEVE the time I went through to write this one!! XD;; I spent a good hour or so listening to songs on YouTube and comparing lyrics to decide which song to do, then I had to figure out the segments, and finally I was lucky to have the pleasure of going through the trouble of having to figure out a story. XD;; Sorry for my repeated [ comments in here, but I feel they're needed. Anyway, hope you enjoied!


	7. No Sleep Tonight

(7)( ) (Life) (with) (Ash)

I stretched as I awoke the next day, ready for another summer day in my--favorite anime. I sighed, remembering what had happened the day before, and was still a little unhappy with the prospect of not being able to go back home again for awhile. But, hey, I was in my favorite show!! I was as happy as can be.

I had my uniform on and washed up by the time the other two were up. We had stopped in the next town and slept in the Pokémon Center there. We had a room separate from Ash and co.'s, so that we could maintain our secret identities. We were dead-serious about that, beleive me. While they washed up and such, I went to see if Ash and the others were up.

They were, or at least Brock was. He opened the door as I walked down the hallway to it. Seeing me, he waved. "Good morning, Agent Lock!" he greeted.

I held up a hand. "Morning, Brock," I replied, then smiled sheepishly. "You don't have to call me 'Agent' all the time; just 'Lock' will suffice."

Brock smiled and nodded. "Alright, Lock." He exited the room and went down to the restraunt. "Breakfast is being served about now, and I want to save us a good spot," he told me over his shoulder. "Want to come with?"

I smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not?" I walked with him.

He looked me up and down. "Wow. You guys really look sharp," he complimented. "I've been meaning to ask you: Are you guys with the government?"

I tilted my hand. "Kinda-sorta," I answered. "The Elite Beat Agency--the boy Agents and girl Divas respectively--is kind of governmental, but not really. Commander Kahn and some others work as top-paying government officials, but our entire agency is private, otherwise. We generate our own income. We're currently debating whether or not to ask to be funded by American tax dollars, but Kahn is worried we might become puppets for the government and be forced to do things that would either waste our time and talents or otherwise not be good...or wise, if our president is in any way involved." We got to the restraunt and picked a big table to sit at and sat.

Brock raised his eyebrows. "I'd like to say I'm surprised at that string-pulling part, but quite frankly, I'm not, really," he commented, chuckling. I laughed. He sighed and picked up a menu. "Do YOU have a job to make your own money?" he asked. "For the agency, I mean?"

I shook my head. "I'm just a 16-year-old guy who's too lazy to go out and get a real job," I answered, shrugging. "I was hoping that I'd get a job at the music store, but nobody called after three weeks, so I gave up. And I don't want any other job." I picked my menu up and saw a few good choices of varied-culture breakfast foods. I decided I'd order good ol' buttermilk pancakes and scrambled eggs.

We talked a bit more about various things for a while until Ash and Pikachu came, then Meyers and Hunter. Finally Dawn arrived, and we at last ordered. Dawn took a deep breath and let it out, smiling, as she smelled the food soon placed in front of her. "Mmmmm...That's the way to wake up in the morning!" she remarked, digging in.

Me and my agent friends chuckled and tucked in, too. "Hey, you guys should stop by a store or something before we leave town," Ash suddenly said, mouth full a little, "and get your own sleeping bags. You were lucky we were so near a town last night."

We looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then nodded. "Good plan," Meyers agreed.

"So, you guys get any calls from your boss, yet?" Dawn asked after some talk later.

Hunter shook his head. "Nope; it probably takes too long to get through, what with how far apart we are." He took a slug of OJ.

"Oh...I wonder if he's worried about you," Dawn muttered, looking sympathetic. She smiled again, though. "But don't worry, nothing bad ever happens to us!"

We all three had to fight to keep our food or drink in our mouthes while we bit back a laugh.

Later on, we were on the road again, with a backpack carrying a black sleeping bag for all three of us Agents. We'd spent a fair amount of money on them all, but we didn't mind, since that hopefully would be the last time we had to do so. We were en route to the next town, wondering what would happen on the way there. Us three personally hoped we'd get to have some fun that day. It appeared almost every day of Ash's life was eventful, and we hoped that was really true.

We stopped for lunch in a clearing. Once there, Ash and Dawn began practicing for their respective competitions. We talked to each other and decided that we, too, should practice. So, poor Brock was left to cook alone.

"Okay, let's see...where were we, again?" I asked, getting to a clear spot.

"We were still doing the third part of 'Cartoon Heroes,'" Hunter reminded.

"I think we were stuck on the verse-to-chorus transition," Meyers recolleced, putting a finger on his chin.

I nodded. "Alright. Now..." We got into position. I turned on my badge's music player, then selected a part to practice, and finally set it down tempo for practice purposes. Soon, the music began to play, and we got into position and began to practice.

"...things..." I looked up. "G'ready," I warned.

"Frame by frame, to the extreme...One by one, we're makin' it fun...We are the cartoon hee-eer-oes, a-WOAH-oh!..."

We danced and tried our best to match the rhythms we knew to do, but we got into the chorus dance late. "Dang! Stop, stop, stop..." I wearilly said, waving my arm while stopping the song. "'K, let's go through that part again, no music, step by step..."

We practiced until Brock called us over for lunch. We stopped a little reluctantly and came over. He smiled at us as we sat down and started eating. "You guys are pretty dedicated," he commented, smiling.

Meyers grinned. "Practice makes perfect," he said, reciting the old adage.

"Ash and Dawn didn't get where they are through just lazing about, did they?" I asked.

"True," Brock admitted. "It's just I've never really seen human performers practice. I've seen Dawn and May practice coordinating, but otherwise, I haven't really seen anyone practice for a human performance, at least not for a while."

Ash gulped down some stew. "Hey, guys, I've been meanin' to ask ya," he said. "How the heck do you guys DO it? I mean, y'know, fill people with energy like you did to me through just singing and dancing?"

We chuckled. Hunter waggled a finger. "Sorry, kid, trade secret," he replied.

I rolled my eyes behind my shades. "Yeah, right...Well, see, what we do is, in essence, cheer. As in cheerleader-cheer. Not the stupid high school kinda cheer, but really CHEER. It's just we do it so well, it's amazing what people can do when we encourage them." I shrugged. "Well, that's my best whack at your question, anyway."

Ash chuckled. "Well, it looks pretty fun. And it reminds me of something else..." He thought for a little bit, then shook his head. "I forget, but I've heard of people who are kind of like you guys...I dunno who, though."

We looked at each other and laughed a little. "Hey, who knows," I remarked, "maybe there IS one here already."

"Let's just hope that if there is, they ain't mad for us stealing their work!" joked Hunter, and everyone laughed.

We continued on until nightfall. When we arrived at a good place to stop, we began to set up camp. Dawn asked Hunter to help pitch her tent while Meyers helped Brock set up the campfire that would cook dinner the next day. I just walked around, looking for a good place to sleep under the stars.

"You should turn back," said a crackly old voice suddenly.

We all jumped and turned to see an old woman coming up the path and very near us. She had a cranky face on as well as an old-fashioned dress. "They say spirits haunt these hills at night," she warned us, walking along through our campsite. "Campers such as yourselves are prime targets. If you're wise, you would go back before the spirits come and do something bad to you." She went on along the road until the black night swallowed her up. We watched her go, then looked at each other.

"Should we believe her?" I asked, personally a believer of the paranormal.

Ash scoffed. "Yeah, right," he answered. "I think she wanted to scare us or something."

"Yeah," Brock agreed, nodding, "and, besides, we're pretty much established here already--it'd be a waste to just bundle ourselves up again and go back a ways." So we decided to stay.

It was a full moon that night, and I sat on a rock and looked at it while everyone else gathered around the camp fire. Dawn looked at Brock, who was cooking dinner, after a moment. "Uhm...Brock?" she asked, a little scared-sounding. "DO you think there are spirits here?"

Brock chuckled and shook his head. "Naw, I don't think so," he replied.

Ash got a wicked smile. "But, then," he began, sounding a little sad, "that's what the LAST person who was gotten by the...er...Googly-gast said."

Dawn gasped, but Brock rolled his eyes and continued to stir the pot. "Oh, great, ghost stories," he mumbled, but Dawn couldn't hear him.

Suddenly, our badges went off, startling everyone a little, and we all raced far enough away from the fire to see our backlit screens well without reflections.

-----

A young man with wild, long, grey, white-streaked hair lay asleep in his blue sleeping bag outside on a cliff. He had gone to bed early, having eaten supper already, and was just getting some good shut-eye when a wolf howled in the distance. He groaned and opened his bright blue eyes. "Aw, maann..." He grumbled and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Just when I was gonna get a good dream..."

(Travis Monkshood, 19)

He looked around, raising an eyebrow when he saw nobody else there. "Huh. I wonder where the other guys are..." He got out of his sleeping bag, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans still. He put on his shoes and walked to where he'd seen them go, into the forest. "What could take them so long? They said they just wanted to go and see if there WERE any spirits here, the dummies..." He blushed, then. "...Though, I'm really not one to talk..." He looked at his hand.

Travis was just stepping along through the woods when a voice said, "I told you to turn back." He gasped and turned to see--to our surprise--that same old woman.

"Y-You!! What're YOU doing here?" he asked.

The woman anger-veined. "I live here," she replied flatly.

"Oh."

The woman humphed and crossed her arms. "Anyway, I warned you," she continued, "and your friends. But NOOOOOO, you just HAD to ignore me. Well, humph, I guess I'll just have to show you and your friends how very wrong they are, and punish you for not trying harder to stop them."

Travis raised an eyebrow and thought back.

FLASHBACK!!

It was earlier, about sunset, when two other young men--one black-haired and glasses wearing, the other with brown hair and wearing a half-grey, half-red baseball cap--were traveling with Travis(har-de-har-har). The scene showed the hat guy on the left more than the glasses guy(they were traveling side-by-side, with Travis on the left end of the three).

(Frank Walker, 18Dorian Thatcher, 19)

The old woman was crossing her arms again. "Leave now," she said to them. "There are treacherous spirits ahead and night is coming soon."

Frank and Dorian laughed. "Oh, please!" Frank howled, shaking his head. "We're young, but not little kids!!"

"Ye-heah, nice try, though, geezer!!" Dorian chortled.

Travis frowned, though. "Uhm...I dunno..." he said uneasilly.

The two turned to him, glaring disapprovingly. "Dude!!" Frank scolded. "You don't believe this old bat, do ya?!"

"I'm RIGHT HERE!!" the afforementioned 'old bat' yelled, shaking her fists.

"There's no such thing as ghosts or spirits or any of that stupid mumbo-jumbo," Dorian chided. "Only ghost-type pokémon, that's it."

Travis sweatdropped, holding his hands up defensively. "But...Uhm..." He glanced at the old woman and sweatdropped even more from her peircing gaze. "Um!...Um!..." He finally gave up, sighing. "You're right..."

"Sheesh, Trav," Dorian said, rolling his eyes. "You just acted like a little kid, y'know?" They began going off, but not without the old hag giving Travis one last malevolent leer.

end FLASHBACK!

Travis gulped as he recalled the event. "Uhm...I was...just...um..." he floundered, taking a step back.

The hag bristled and started to glow black(well, a white outline appeared and anything between that and her body was obstructed by blackness, at least). "Your will PAY with your HUMANITY, and your FRIENDS with their LIVES!!!!" she shrieked, and Travis was a-runnin'.

(I looked at my teammates with an "I knew it," look on my face, and they raised eyebrows at me. I pouted and continued to watch the breifing.)

"GUY-YY-YY-YYYS!!" he screamed, racing to avoid a black blast heading right towards him.

Ahead in the clearing were the two friends, waving a flashlight around. They turned when they heard the voice. "Who was that?" Frank asked.

Dorian shrugged. "I dunno," he replied. Then he froze. "Uh...Did you...like...get your puny vulpix out and teach it Will-o-wisp all a sudden?" he asked shakilly.

Frank raised an eyebrow. "No. Why?" He turned and yelped. Floating behind him, with glowing, red, evil eyes, were blue balls of flame. Frank turned back and yelped again. "AHHH!! There are MORE!!" he cried, pointing behind Dorian, who turned and yelped as well.

They stood and trembled, then heard a crash and yelped simultaneously, dropping their flashlights.

Travis had tripped and fallen hard onto the ground, turning as he did. "Wo-oa-oaaaAAHH!!" he cried, going down. When he landed with a grunt, he first opened his eyes. He stared for a good second before muttering, "Oops..."

Instantly, the sound of ripping and tearing could be heard, as well as bones crunching and what sounded like leaves rustling. By now, Frank and Dorian had their flashlights again and had pointed them at Travis.

Travis, or at least that's what we assumed the silluette-lump was, couldn't say a word as not only his body changed, but he was struck by a cloud of blackness. Then, slowly, he got up onto all fours, growling. He turned his face to the two friends and gazed with white eyes and a snarl on his mouth.

"W..." Frank stuttered.

"W..." Dorian copied.

Then both screamed, "WEREWOOOOOOOOLF!!!" and shot off like a cannon. Travis followed, running lupinely along. Travis had become a silvery-white wolf, wearing nothing but his jeans now, with his head of hair still intact. Some muscle was visible on him, but not an oversized amount. Just pretty dang huge.

'NO!!!' screamed his voice in his head, and we saw a figure like him--wolf form, for some reason--looking in horror outside a visor-shaped window in a white room. He got onto his knees. "I...I'm gone...banished by a banshee..." He clenched a fist and looked up, a determined look on his face. "No! I'm still here! I can take myself back, no problem!!"

A huge shadow loomed over him and growled in an inhuman tone, "I think not." He spun around and looked in horror at a monstrous wolf over him, dripping saliva all over.

With this in front of his comparitively puny, insignificant body, and the hag outside cackling, and his friends in danger, Travis just could NOT bear it any longer. He whipped his head up and howled,

"HEEAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLP!!"

-----

Back at the campsite, Ash and co. stopped talking and turned as they heard the howl echoing in the distance, then got back to their conversation.

We looked at each other and nodded, then flipped on another experimental boot that had a bit more development into it than the other one: Rocket Boots that made us run faster by drastically decreasing friction around our feet. Ash and company didn't see us dash off, seeing as Ash was still telling his ghost story.

MISSION: Supernatural Frightfest! No Winchesters Here!!

Inside his own head, Travis faced one heck of an inner demon. "The only way I'm gonna get control again..." He gulped and quavered at the sight of the devilish wolf slobbering around the confines of his mind. "...I have to kill THIS thing?!" He hung his head with a depressed "Aroo..."

We dashed through the trees and stopped right in front of the wolf, coming towards us rapidly. I thrust out my badge. "The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!!" I announced, as the music began playing. "Take the wheel, and we'll fuel your engines!" I got a look from my backups. "What? I'm just trying to say something new!" I defended, shrugging. The wolf wasn't stopping, but we knew that we would survive if we started in time. Already in postition, we began the wave.

The wolf slowed down and gazed at us. We knew, within its head, Travis was starting to wave, too.

"WOOOOOOOAH!!"

"""Are you ready?...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

I got you

I got you on my mind

And it's time to make you see

(What I want)

So I'll just make this

A little more obvious

'Cuz I get what I want and I want you to get with me!

(Wanna get with me?)

We began to sing and dance to a favorite of ours, The Faders' "No Sleep Tonight," as heard on Veronica Mars. The wolf just jumped over us and ran on. We didn't really know, just hoped, but inside the canine's skull, Travis began to grapple with the huge beast. At first, he was just doing a little okay, wrestling with the huge wolf and sweating a little, but then, with sheer will, began to claw and bite the beast furiously.

After we finished the first verse and began to be caught up with the wolf during the bridge, Travis growled, clenching his fists as he glared at the wolf. "Alright, mutt," he barked, "time to put you to sleep!!" He howled and sprang up, launching an amazing kick. In a flash of kicks, punches, scratches, and bites, Travis landed, and the big wolf howled as it faded away behind him. Outside, the wolf blinked and his eyes became normal bright blue again. "YES!!" Travis barked, getting up onto his hind legs and running as normally as he could on two huge feet like he had.

O

Tell me baby

Are you coming

With me?

(We breathed a sigh of releif that we did it sucessfully.)

Travis darted along, chasing his friends still. "Oh, my! I've got to get to them!!" he yipped as he saw them being followed by will-o-wisps like heck.

((You can't stop this)) BOOM BOOM feelin'!

You cannot run away

Baby, I'm what's on your mind

You can't stop this BOOM BOOM feeling!

There is no escape

No sleep tonight, you won't get

No sleep tonight

He was running normally at first, hopping over any roots exposed and ducking underneath any overhanging branches, but he quickly poured on the speed and dashed the fact that wolves aren't especially fast(he-he-he...). He was now leaping over roots and slashing away branches with his claws. He sometimes bit one off and spat it away before continuing.

Eventually, he caught up with Dorian, but no Frank, still. Dorian stumbled and fell, screaming. He looked in horror as Travis gained on him. "NOOO!! I DON'T WANNA BE A WEREWOLF!!" he bawled, bracing himself.

Travis landed, momentarilly scaring off the will-o-whisps. "Oh, but it's fun!" he joked, looking down at his friend.

Recognizing the voice, Dorian opened his eyes and saw a smile and two bright blue eyes. "T-Travis?!" he gasped, then yelped and pointed. "LOOK OUT! THEY'RE BACK!!"

Travis whipped his head around, snarling. "Then I'll just have to snuff 'em all out!!" he howled, and went into a fury of attacks like before. When he was done, every single will-o-whisp disappeared into a puff of smoke. Travis smirk-grinned. "Like putting out a buncha candles!!" he described.

"AWESOME!!" Dorian cheered, raising a fist.

O

You want me

You want me all the time

And you don't need nothin' else

But you seem to be

A little oblivious

So I'll show you the way if you think that you need some help

"C'mon! We've gotta go save Frank!" Dorian insisted, pointing after some more specters. Travis nodded and ran off. He skidded to a halt, though, when Dorian protested, "WHAT, YA GONNA LEAVE ME HERE?!"

"Good greif!!" whined Travis.

Tell me baby

Are you

Coming with me?

You can't stop this BOOM BOOM feelin'!

You cannot run away

Baby, I'm what's on your mind

You can't stop this BOOM BOOM feeling!

There is no escape

No sleep tonight, you won't get

No sleep tonight

(No sleep tonight, oh, no sleep tonight...)

Travis had a little trouble at first running on four legs while carrying Dorian, but his desire to rescue his friend gave him the strength to go and his lupine body did the rest. He went so fast, Dorian had to hold onto his steed's hair to prevent flying off.

Travis growled, looking ahead. "We're never gonna get to him!" he whined.

Dorian yelped. "Heads up!!" he cried, pointing upwards.

Travis gazed up and yipped as he saw a bunch of disgruntled Ursaring awakened from their sleep. "Aw, fff--HANG ON!!" He panted, then dashed as fast as he possibly could while the bear pokémon fired off their signiture Hyper Beams at them. They always missed as Travis leapt from side to side. Finally, the werewolf outran them and was safe again.

"Leapin' Lupines!" joked Dorian.

Travis sweatdropped. "That was lame..."

Meanwhile, Team Rocket was busy running. "Alright, who said that their pokémon could go crazy with the Will-o-wisps?!" James asked frantically.

"How should I know?! Just keep going!!" Jessie sqeaked.

Meowth ran behind them, then yelped as his tail touched one of the will-o-wisps following them. "YEEOOOWWW!!" He jumped forwards a bit and picked it up. "FOR MY TAIAL'S SAKE, AT LEAST!!"

The three burst out of the trees and stopped, panting. Suddenly, Travis shot past with Dorian hanging on. The three blinked at that, then looked up to see the Ursarings. They sweatdropped. "Oh, dear," James said in a small voice.

"We've been able to run away--" Jessie started.

"--but our luck's da one dat's run away now!" Meowth finished.

The Ursaring blasted them with Hyper Beam, and they were sent flying.

"Hey, look at it this way," James said, legs crossed and a finger up. "At least those scary ghosts aren't following us anymore."

Jessie humphed and crossed her arms. "But now we won't get to see what's going on with that thing that ran by us," she complained. "And I love this song, too!"

Wobbafett came out of its ball and saluted. "WAAAAbafett!!"

James blinked in puzzlement. "But we've got a bird's-eye-view, now," he pointed out. "I dunno about hearing the song, but we'll be able to see just fine, won't we?"

"Well, Jimbo," Meowth sighed, "you seem ta be forgettin' somethin'..."

"""TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OF AGAAIIIIIN!!"""

SHEEN!!

And now, back to our regularly-scheduled mission, now in progress:

O

Boy, you won't be sleepin'

No sleep tonight

Do I have to spell it out in black and white?

(This was the part that we all resist sweatdropping during...)

Travis finally got to Frank, who was backed up against a tree and trembling. ""FRANK!!"" he and Dorian shouted, and he looked at them.

"Dorian?! THE WEREWOLF?!" he croaked. A roar brought his attention back up front. "YEEEEK!!"

Travis skidded and Dorian got off his back while he stood up. "What is--HOLY--!!" An enormous, floating, white human skull cackled at him. "This is turning into Legacy of Darkness!!" he barked in annoyance.

Boy, you won't be sleepin'

No sleep tonight

Do I have to spell it out in black and white?!

Travis at first had trouble, since all of his attacks seemed to go through the ghost. Then, with fury, he began swiping at the ghost in a good Fury Swipes imitation.

"It's not working!" he whined, panting from the effort. He thought fast, then remembered something. "Salt!! Salt's good against evil spirits!!" He dug in his pockets, searching. "I know I have some from that restraunt kicking around in here!! Curse deep pockets!"

Frank and Dorian spazzed. ""TRA-VIIIIS!!"" they shrieked, pointing at the ghost advancing at them at high speed.

Travis grinned and pulled his paw out. "Ah-HAH!!" he barked triumphantly, and tore open the package. "EAT NhCl, SUCKER!!" he laughed, spraying the salt in the skull's eyes. The skull was right there and so had no way to dodge. With a roar, it disappeared into thin air. Travis grinned and turned to his friends.

"""Behold the power of condiments!!""" they crowed together.

O

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh-oh)

No sleep tonight

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh)

No sleep tonight

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh-oh)

No sleep tonight

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh)

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LOSE YOUR HUMANITY!!" shreiked the hag demonically as she suddenly appeared out of the trees. She was glowing feircer than ever, and her hair was waving around like as if she were submerged in invisible water, and her eyes where white. She was pretty ticked off.

""THE GEEZER?!"" Dorian and Frank squealed.

Travis snarled. "How about giving me BACK that humanity?!" he barked.

I looked at the other two. "Let's finish this baby out!!"

You can't stop this BOOM BOOM feelin'!

You cannot run away

Baby, I'm what's on your mind

You can't stop this BOOM BOOM feeling!

There is no escape

No sleep tonight, you won't get

No sleep tonight

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

Travis was fired up, now. He dodged all her black aura blasts that she fired at him at lightning speed.

Finally, she stopped and roared, "WHICH WILL IT BE, MUTT? GIVE UP YOUR FRIENDS FOR YOUR HUMANITY AGAIN, OR GIVE UP YOUR HUMANITY FOR YOUR FRIENDS?!"

Travis growled and howled, "NEITHER!!" and launched at her throat. A flurry of blows ensued, with moonlight mysteriously gathering in his fists, claws, jaws, and finally feet as he punched, slashed, chomped, and kicked her outta the park. She roared demonically and faded away in black flames, but not completely. When the flames nearly faded, they could see a ghastly shape of a horrific devil or something. It stayed for a split second before disappearing from sight.

Travis panted, the moonlight stopping glowing, then sighed in relief, falling flat on his butt. "Aroo!! What a nightmare!" he breathed, tounge lolling a bit as he leaned back on his paws.

"Travis?" Frank asked. He tilted his head back to see behind him upside-down (looking rather cute doing so) and saw them standing there, sympathetically-faced. "What about your humanity?" he asked.

Travis grinned sheepishly and chuckled. "Truth be told, I've always been a werewolf," he confessed, turning his body and righting himself. He looked up at the moon. "Hence why I always keep my head down on nights of the full moon, and why my hair's so cool. But..." He hesitated, then bit the bullet. "Guys, I'm sorry to say this, but from what I've learned of this, I've got to take control of my OWN life," he told them. "Which means that if I take a stand, I can't give up so easilly. And this goes for going against you guys, too." He stood and turned to them. "I had a feeling there was danger here, but I let myself lose to you guys."

Frank and Dorian looked guilty. "We're sorry," Dorian said, and both bowed breifly. "We keep telling you to do stuff...pressuring you into things, and this time, I guess we got what we deserved, huh?" He chuckled nervously.

Frank smiled sheepishly. "Could you forgive us?" he asked.

Travis grinned wolfishly. "That was then, this is now...if you deal with me turning fuzzy every now and then!" he bargined.

Frank and Dorian widened their eyes and smiled, trying to hide their laughter. "Sure, but..." Frank said, and the two looked at each other.

""WE NEVER KNEW YOU WERE A FURRY!!"" they laughed, and Travis anime fell, but ended up laughing as well.

"It's my own way!!" he defended, getting up and putting a paw behind his neck.

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

(Uh-uh-uh-uh-oh)

No sleep tonight!

That's how it ended, the three laughing together under the full moon in the middle of the forest, Travis grinning and showing his pointy teeth. Pretty simple ending, if you ask me.

We watched from a distance, smiling. Then Meyers and Hunter looked at me, raised eyebrows and smirks. "You're telling us that you knew that there was something weird goin' on here?" asked Meyers.

I shook my head. "Naw, I just believe in supernatural stuff," I replied. I grinned. "And now for good reason!"

Hunter laughed. "Man, dude, you're weirder than we thought!" he joked, and we all laughed, too.

Suddenly, our badges began to beep. We flipped them open and saw a standing and turning Commander. "YEAAAAHH!" he shouted as he flashed us the thumbs-up.

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

"That was a very risky mission, boys," Kahn remarked as he sat back down. "But well done. You were very brave, and proved to be true agents for facing the unreal without missing a single beat. Good job."

"""Thank you, sir."""

"Sir," Meyers asked, "have you guys found out if we can get out, yet?"

Kahn shook his head. "I'm afraid not," he answered. "But I CAN tell you that you're making the show a lot more interesting, in my opinon." We chuckled at that. "And there's still a bunch left to go, too," he added.

We raised our eyebrows, looking at each other, before returning to the badges. "Are we still on?" I asked.

Kahn nodded, the image of him fizzing a second. "Yes. I have this bad feeling, though," he mumbled. "...Like you're forgetting something...I honestly have never heard of a moonlight-enhanced combo by a werewolf banishing a demon so thouroghly..."

We cocked our heads, then gasped as our hearts ran cold. "The others!" Hunter squeaked.

Kahn nodded. "You're right--hurry! If they get harmed, who KNOWS what'll happen?! DIS-MISSED!!"

"""YESSIR!!""" we shouted, and the connection cut out. We nodded to each other and dashed off at top speed back to camp.

In the clearing that we were beside moments ago, Travis stopped laughing abruptly. "Huh?" He sniffed the air, then turned. "I smell trouble..." he muttered, a look of shock dawning on his face. "I don't think we've seen the last of that thing, yet, guys!" he barked uneasilly.

Frank and Dorian stared at him. ""WHAT?!""

Travis grabbed them both, each by the arm. "C'mon!!" He ran off, carrying the two behind him.

""WOOAAAHHHHARRRGH!!""

Ash had finished with his story a while ago, and Brock was telling his own. "...and it came out...and snatched the couple up in its jaws!!" he continued, suddenly grabbing the air in front of him with his arms. Ash and Dawn jumped a little. He made a spooky face in the firelight. "And then...they were never heard from again," he finished, sitting back.

Ash and Dawn looked at each other, then laughed. "Wow, that was really good, Brock!" Ash commented.

Brock rubbed his finger under his nose. "You really get into it out in places like this," he said. "That creepy old lady really helped inspire me to tell it."

Dawn smiled, then looked around. "Speaking of people who disappear into the night," she said, "where are the Agents? Their dinner's getting cold..."

Pikachu shrugged, then stopped dead. Ash looked over to his friend. "Pikachu? What's wrong, buddy?" he asked.

Pikachu looked behind him quickly. He shakilly looked back at Ash. "Pi...pi-ka..." he said slowly, pointing over his shoulder.

Ash tried to understand, then had an idea. "Oh! You think there's a ghost there?" he asked, smiling. He patted him on the back. "Aw, don't worry, we're just scarin' each other too much! There's no such thing as ghosts, only ghost-type pokémon."

"Well, the last guys who said that nearly got their SOULS stolen from them!!" I cried, skidding to a halt nearby them. "We just had to cheer on their friend who was trying to save them!!"

The four looked up at us. Brock laughed. "Really?" he asked. "And what ghost story do YOU guys have to tell?"

"A very real one, that's what!" said Hunter, panting for breath a little.

"We swear it! We just helped out a guy kick some paranormal butt!" Meyers insisted.

Dawn furrowed her brow. "Guys, I don't think they'd lie to us about a job they've done," she said. "I think they might be telling the truth."

Ash and Brock looked at each other, uncertain looks on their faces. "Well, Ash, I think we've had a run-in with peoples' ghosts before," Brock admitted. "Like, remember that one time you said I was posessed by something? Waaaaaay back in Kanto?"

"You mean that time with the Gastly?" Ash recollected.

"Yeah!" I said, suddenly, the otaku taking momentary control. "I remember that episode! Misty said the most hilarious lines ever!!" I mimed the actions while I recited the general lines. "'I have...a cross!!...I also have--some garlic--a stake--and a hammer!!'"

We all laughed at that. "Oh, man, I remember that," Ash said. "That was awesome!" He looked serious, though, again. "But back on the topic of ghosts, are you guys pulling our legs? Seriously."

We shook our heads. "Where's the salt?" I asked seriously.

Brock sweatdropped, but then remembered. "Oh, yeah, salt keeps evil spirits away," he mumbled. "Hang on, I've got a container of it..." He ruffled through his bag and pulled out a thing of salt. It was like one of those Morton things. "Here we go! And plently left!" He sweatdropped. "Just don't waste it all, okay?" he asked.

I took it and nodded. I looked at Pikachu, who was still tense. "You sense the ghost?" I asked.

Pikachu nodded. "Pi! Pika!!"

I set my mouth into a serious straight line and looked around. "Where will I be if I'm a ghosty thing..."

"Right here would be good."

We yelped and spun around, seeing that old lady again. She appeared normal again, except for the fact she was floating off the ground!! I growled and poured out some salt into my hand and threw it at her. She flew to the side like it was nothing, almost teleporting. "Tsk tsk, too slow," she admonished. "You'll at LEAST have to be as fast as that wretched wolf to hit me...although now, with the night deepening, I doubt even HE could hit me..." She started to chuckle, then it got deeper and eviler as her eyes became white.

Dawn screamed and backed up. She screamed again as she backed into the fire, and began running around comically while trying to put her butt out. Buizel, who was out along with the other pokémon, fired a bubblebeam at her and snuffed it. "Thanks, Buizel," she sighed, hair now a bit of a mess.

Brock gritted his teeth and backed away a bit. "Guys, we'd better get going," he said.

Ash growled. "I'm not running from a stupid ghost!!" he yelled. He pointed his finger at her. "Pikachu! Thunderbolt, now!"

Pikachu complied. "Pikaaaa-CHUUUUUUUUU!!" he grunted, sending a bolt at--er, through...her...

Ash paled. "Pokémon attacks won't work?" he squeaked.

"NO," thundered the hellish-sounding hag in front of us. She rose, full-on scary lady, and her skin began to tear as she, too, transformed. "IT'S MIDNIGHT, NOW," she--or really, I guess, it, or he...I think 'it' would suffice, pointed out. "NOW...I'M UNSTOPPABLE!!"

With a roar, it shredded the clothing and became a huge, red, floating devil-like thing, but instead of hooves and an arrowlike tail, it had cone-like points and a more whiplike tail. It was pretty strong-looking, with really ugly hairy armpits and chest, and was now brimming with flames around it as it hovered. "NOW," it said--and I wish I had the Diablo font--"YOU SHALL SUFFER FOR NOT HEEDING MY WARNING, HUMANS...WITH YOUR SOULS!!"

WHAM!! Suddenly, it was tackled to the ground by a silver-white streak. We looked down to where they landed and saw a werewolf and the thing tussling. The thing grabbed him by the poofy collar and threw him towards the fire.

"TRAVIS!!" I cried, and ran and caught him. I skidded and touched the fire, but was able to quickly get away before my suit burned. He was really on the ground more than in my arms when I was far enough. "You alright?" I asked, looking down into his face.

He winced as he got up. "Yeah," he growled, getting up and coughing, "I'll be alright...Thanks for savin' us all a show of The Amazing Wolf on Fire, Mr. Agent dude...and for before, too," he added.

I smiled. "It's what we do," I replied, and handed him the salt container. "You're faster than I am, you can probably hit it!"

He nodded and poured some into his paw. Ash and the others stared at him and me before going, """THEY WERE RIGHT!!"""

"""TOLD YOU SO!!""" we replied back.

Meanwhile, the thing was getting up and floating again. It was now starting to send fire at us. Buizel, brave little weasel he(?) was, fired off a Bubblebeam and canceled the fire, which was just normal fire like a Flamethrower, out. A cloud of steam enveloped us, and we all stood braced for a sneak attack. It came from it, towards me. It dove and grabbed me, then flew with me up in its grasp again. It cackled. "YOU'RE THE ONE I REALLY WANT," and was about to set me ablaze when it cried in agony and dropped me.

Travis had thrown salt right at it. "What? Don't like a little sodium in your diet?" he asked, and threw some more. [Oh, God, thank you! This is FUN, doing a smart-mouthed character!! No wonder they're so common in animes and other forms of stories...

It missed, but he had a plan B: swing the salt container and fling salt out in a stream. THAT hit where it was floating off, causing it to scream again. It was a horrible scream, very discordant. "YOU SHALL PAY FOR THAT, WOLF!!" it roared, and fired a dark blast at him.

Travis rolled out of the way in time. "Not again, buddy!" he said, and swung more salt at it.

Brock stared in horror as his condiment was thrown about so. "MY SALT!!" he whined. He hung his head. "Now I'm not going to have enough by the next city..."

"We have a LOT more to worry about!" I said, grabbing him and shoving him away. "Get away from here! We'll handle this thing!"

He reluctantly joined Ash and Dawn into the distance from the fire.

Meanwhile, Travis was making quite a mess with the salt, and was trying hard not to get any in his eyes. He hit sometimes, but not most times. I had an idea. "Meyers! Hunter!! Front and center!"

We got into position and did a quick bit after a discussion:

You're the devil in disguise!

Oh yes, you are!

Devil in disguise!

Mm-mm-mmmm!!

It worked, thankfully, and Travis hit the thing with almost every swing. "WWWAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" the demonic-thingummy cried as it finally fell, its flames now smoldering. As soon as it was down, Travis dumped the remaining salt over it, and the scream was deafening. Through gritted teeth, though, it glared at us and roared, "YOU WILL PAY, AGENTS!!"

Finally, it exploded in a burst of white light. Its scream echoed in our heads for seconds after it had gone, and all it left was a pile of ashes. Well, ashes covered in salt. Travis stopped the salt pouring, still leaving a small amount in there, and closed it. He looked down at the thing. "I had a feeling that there was still that evil presense," he explained, handing back the salt as he came over. "So I raced back here with Frank and Dorian."

The two he mentioned came over shakilly from their hiding place. "Dude, T-Travis," Frank stuttered, "that was t-t-tight!..."

"Y-yeah, man," Dorian agreed, "tangling with that th-thing like that..."

Travis smiled and put a paw behind his neck. "It wouldn't've worked if these guys hadn't helped at the last second. That song really just made me go, 'WOAH! Yeah, that explains that thing, alright!' and I just did better!" He grinned at us, giving a thumbs-up. "Thanks, guys!"

We smiled. "That's what we do," Hunter replied, stealing my line.

Ash and company finally came back over. "Is it...over?" he asked.

Brock grabbed his salt and hefted it, then tears waterfalled from his eyes. "There's barely enough left to make breakfast tomorrow now!" he whined, and everyone laughed.

"...Wow. So that's what you guys helped him do?" Ash asked us after we'd all sat down at the fire and told what had happened.

I nodded. "Yep."

Ash, Brock, and Dawn gaped at each other. "Wow...You guys even deal with supernatural stuff!" Dawn commented, amazed.

Meyers grinned. "Sure do!"

Travis, who was bouncing his leg up and down fidgetingly, growled softly. We turned to him. "What's up?" Brock asked.

The werewolf blinked and looked up, the growl stopping. "Huh? Oh...sorry," he appologized. "I was just wondering...what the heck WAS that thing? It's really been ruffling my feathers...well, fur...you know what I mean!" We laughed at his joke.

I didn't, though, and bowed my head worriedly, too. "Well, what's been eatin' at ME is that it said that we're the ones it really wanted," I voiced, motioning to my fellow Agents. "The only enemies I can think of actually having are the Rhombulans, and we kicked their smelly aft ends a while ago, before me and my friends even joined the Agency. Why we'd have a demon thing want our throats, I don't know."

Frank shrugged. "Maybe you owe him money?" he suggested.

We three singers sweatdropped. "I don't think that's the case," Hunter told him.

Dorian laughed. "Yeah, dude," he agreed, "it OBVIOUSLY wants their blood--it's a vampire!!"

We sweatdropped even further. "Then how come salt killed it?" Meyers asked. "Vamps are, as Lock recalled for us, vulnrable to a cross, garlic, and a stake and hammer through the heart. I think maybe silver works, too."

The two friends of the wolfman sighed in defeat. ""We tried,"" they moaned.

Travis frowned. "But it wants you guys dead for SOMEthing," he stated, pointing at us. "Whatever it is, though, I think we'd better lay off the subject for a while so we can get it out of our systems." He crossed his arms again and thought for a little bit. "I seem to have some supernatural powers I never thought I had before," he said, holding out a paw and letting it glow with moonlight. Ash and friends cried out in surprise. Travis assured, "It's under control. I've got a pretty good handle on it, though I don't know how I learned it." He shrugged. "But hey, maybe it's nothing...or maybe I could develop a way to repel your 'friend' if it ever returns," he offered, raising an eyebrow.

We raised our eyebrows and looked at each other. "Uhhhh..." Suddenly, our badges beeped and we pulled them out. "Another miss-oh!" We saluted. """COMMANDER!"""

He waved his hand, dismissing our gestures. "Nevermind that," he said. "I just wanted to tell you guys to ignore this for now and continue on like nothing's happened, alright?" He raised an eyebrow at us. "Travis is right, you shouldn't dwell on this subject for too long. But whatever it is that is out for your blood, it might not come in daytime, and it seems you've destroyed it. Plus, you might be able to aquire more salt soon. Travis' speed may have helped here, but you DO have speedy people with you now; just ask Ash or whoever for a fast pokémon to spray the salt on the demon. Ash's Flying-type would probably work well." He sat back. "And, as I'm sure you've got the sound up since I can hear it from my TV, I'd just like to say to Travis: Sorry, but we've got enough with us as it is."

Travis widened his eyes, then whined and bowed his head in defeat, looking so utterly cute. "Awww...but I wanted to hang out with you guys some more..."

Kahn shook his head. "Sorry, but no," he replied curtly. "My Agents are enough extras to Ash's party, and if I let you on, this might become a circus. No offense," he hastilly added, seeing Travis look up, an affronted expression on his lupine face. "Just work on being able to defend YOUR friends," he was ordered. "Until this whole situation clears up and all is as normal again, you'll have to be on guard."

Travis nodded. "Right, uh, sir."

Kahn nodded and got back to us. "Agents," he referred, and we snapped back to attention. "Keep traveling with Ash, and help anyone who cries for help, as usual. Don't drop your guard to the demon too much, though; keep some extra salt handy. And with that, DIS-MISSED!!"

"""YESSIR!!""" we chorused, then snapped our badges shut and put them away. "Well, Travis," I said, rising and holding out my hand, "it's been great helping and working with you, but you guys should head back to your own camp. Who knows--those Ursaring may've smelled your food back there!"

Frank and Dorian started and pulled their mouthes into uneasy grimaces, then looked at each other. "The peanut butter!!" Frank cried.

"THE HONEY!!" Dorian wailed, and both grabbed at Travis' shoulders and tugged at him. ""LET'S GO!!""

Travis sweatdropped and chuckled nervously, looking back at them. "In a sec," he said, and turned to me, smiling. He took his paw and shook my hand, which was the weirdest feeling I'd ever had in my life at that time. "Thank YOU for helping me so much," he replied. "And yeah, we should get a move on, now. Hope to see you guys, again, too, soon!" he added, looking at Ash and crew, waving. "See ya!"

Ash and company waved and called bye as the three went off. Travis smiled, then grabbed his friends and tore off into the midnight.

I sighed and looked at everyone. "Well, sleep sound good?" I asked energetically.

Ash, Brock, Pikachu, and Dawn sweatdropped. "Uhhhhhh..." They looked a little uneasy, then put their hands behind their heads. Ash said, "Well, we'll try, but we're kinda afraid of having nightmares after that," he said sheepishly.

We looked at each other and laughed. "Well, just try, because we're getting out before lunch tomorrow!" Hunter said, turning to turn in.

"Yeah..." Ash chuckled lightly, before everyone bid each other good-night, then went and practically fell asleep as soon as they hit their sleeping bags.

(1+2) (3) (4)

//45 (5+6) --(Center of screen)

6+7

3

12

(You can't stop this BOOM-BOOM)

(1 2 3 4 5 6 )

Feel-[&-i-[ba-da-baa-da-ng

1 2 3- 4 5 6 7

I love the base rhythm of the instruments in this song, and so that's why I did those weird notes. If you go to YouTube and find the song "No Sleep Tonight" by The Faders, you should find it. I'm sorry if the notes are weird, but hey, that's why EBA/Ouendan kicks ass--combining rhythm and artistic placement in a way no other rhythm game can do!! And, after writing this chapter, I thanked God for FINALLY giving me a basic character design for a werewolf I'll be putting into one of my original stories!! Let's see...Just a quick reminder of the score so far:

EBA: 4

Ouendan: 2

I plan on having it be so that there's 19 songs for the EBA at least, like a normal game. This is more of an EBA fic instead of an Ouendan one, but I put those guys in there 'cuz I just wanted to do "GO!!" at least. But having them for one shot like that at random would be bad writing, so I'm SCREWED!! XD ANYWAYSUPERLONGCHAPPIEISNOWDONEIMSHUTTINGUPNOW!!


	8. The Sweet Escape

(8)( ) (Beat) (the) (System)

Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Dawn, Hunter, Meyers, and I walked along in our...dunno if there's a word for it, but group of seven, the next day. We, at last, entered a town, and Brock sighed in releif at the chance to get more salt. He took out his guide book to find it.

"Where are we now, Brock?" Ash asked, looking over his shoulder as he read the map in it.

"We're in Banditome Town, weird name as it is," he replied. "A town known for the maximum-security prison it has for dangerous criminals. Which there appear to be a lot of most of the time, this thing notes," he added, sweatdropping a little.

We all tensed and shoved our wallets and purse away deep within our backpacks on the double.

Brock went into the store to pick up salt and we waited nearby, eating ice cream from the parlor across the street. "Wow," Dawn muttered, looking around. There were a few shady faces in the crowd here and there. She looked worried. "I hope that we don't get robbed here."

Ash shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about that," he said, trying to shrug it off, but I could see he was a bit tense as well.

Dawn looked around. "But there sure are a heck of a lotta police," she pointed out, and relaxed a little. She slurped her peach soft serve.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced around. Indeed, there were a lot of policemen and an Officer Jenny here and there. Their symbol on their cap(surely you've noticed, if you've watched long enough, no Officer Jenny's cap badge is the exact same), fittingly, was of a box with stripes across it like prison bars. "I'm not surprised," I said.

"Why, because there's a lot of crime here?" Meyers guessed.

I nodded. "But with so much around, even, you still never know when someone will get away with something...but I don't think we'll be victims of anything more than pickpockets, cuz we've got our stuff pretty safe."

Indeed, we were slurping our cones while hugging our backpacks.

Brock returned and we gave him his own ice cream cone we'd ordered for him. "Thanks, guys!" he said, and licked it. "Mmm...French Vanilla. Not bad." He slurped a bit, then looked at us. "Hey, I've been wondering, and these police around so much reminded me of it...Do you guys...well...carry anything to, er, protect yourselves?" he asked a bit sheepishly.

I blanched at the question, though my teammates were clueless as to why. I coughed on my ice cream, the surprise of it causing me to inhale a little, and spluttered, "Sorry, sorry, it's nothing." I cleared my throat(for practical as well as gesturing reasons). "No. The only weapon the Elite Beat Agents carry with them are their voices." I thought a little. "Well, okay, our mics are made with titanium for maximum durability and lightness, so I suppose whopping someone on the head with them wouldn't be comfortible." I shook my head. "But no, we don't have any guns on us."

Brock laughed a little. "How stupid of me, sorry," he said. "I guess it's your Bond-like look to you that I'm still trying to absorb fully." He licked his ice cream some more. After we were done with our snack, we went on our way again.

Meyers and Hunter confronted me later on the road after we passed out of town with no problem. "Why'd you react to Brock's question so badly?" Hunter asked, looking unamused at me.

"Yeah, did you suddenly start choking or something?" Meyers had his brow furrowed.

I gave a sheepish grin and chuckle. "Well, guys," I murmured back, "it's because guns are never mentioned in the dub." They nodded their heads back in the understanding gesture. I continued, holding up a finger. "And, unluckilly, because 4Kids censored so overzealously, they made some careful Pokémon fans go, 'Huh??' when the Ditto episode aired. In it, Team Rocket talked about making Ditto Transform into Dratini and present it to their boss, the 'pokémon they were unable to catch before.' Not only THAT, but we were also left to wonder how Ash had magically captured a herd of Tauros."

Hunter tilted his head in confusion. "What, were they both in episodes involving guns?" he asked.

I grinned. "You bet, kid," I joked, referring to an inside joke amoung the Agents from a past mission involving one Hulk Bryman. "The episode where BOTH events happened involved a LOT of guns, and I think Ash even got shot in the butt!" I described...a little too loudly.

Ash heard this and turned. "What about me getting shot in the butt?!" he asked confusedly. We just laughed and shook our heads.

That night, we were awoken by the beeping of our badges. We groaned and got up from our slumber. "Awww...I almost made it that time," Meyers complained sleepilly.

I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and flipped my badge open. The others did the same. We groaned and yawned at the same time as we saw a mission breifing unfold.

-----

It was yesterday, and a woman was walking down the street. She wore a plain pink dress, white gloves, and a nice sun hat. She had long, pretty blonde hair, big green eyes, and a nice pink hairband. She carried a big, bulging purse with her. She looked around at the stores. 'Where should I shop next?' she wondered.

(Marin Edwards, 28. 5'9", 127lbs.)

(Meyers was the first to notice the advanced detailed stats.)

Suddenly, a woman came running out of a store nearby, carrying a big, bulging purse exactly like Marin. In fact, she LOOKED exactly like Marin. She wore the same outfit, sans hat, and had the same hair. The only difference was her eyes had a harder stare to them. The woman darted towards her direction, looking behind her. "Shoot! They saw my face!!" she muttered. To add to the scariness, she SOUNDED like her!! She looked ahead and gasped. "Holy--!!" Then a gleam came in her eyes. 'That's IT! What perfect luck!!'

(Mad Marian, 28. 5'9, 127lbs.)

In a flash, she had grabbed Marin's purse and switched it with her own--'I'll get away...'--then swiped her hat off of her head and put it on hers--'...and clear my record, to boot!'--and finally slowed down to a nice stroll. Marin stood there, blinking at what happened.

"What on...WAIT-A--!!" She turned around and shouted, "HEY!! GIMMIE MY HAT BACK!!"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, MAD MARIAN!!" a voice cried, and she whipped around to find a gun-pointing Officer Jenny in front of her. "There's no place to run!!"

Marin blanched. "HUH?!" She looked around and found herself surrounded by cops. She paled. "W-w-what?! I'm just a normal woman! I'm MarIN, not MariAN!!"

Jenny looked nonplussed. "Yeah, right, nice try, but there's no way you'll worm your way outta this one," she said, then grabbed her wrists and cuffed them. "You're comin' with us."

Marin's heart sank. "WAIT!!" she cried, and pointed to the other way. "SHE'S the real--" She stopped.

Marian was gone.

An officer inspected her purse. "Yep, it's her, she's got the money right here," he said, holding it open to reveal tons of Pokédollars inside.

Marin's eyes bulged outwards Looney Toons-style. "How'd THAT all get in there?!" she squawked. She then grunted as she was yanked by Jenny.

"Enough with the trying to prove you're innocent!! Remember, you've got the right to remain silent, so you'd better use it," she reminded her.

Marin just gazed at her like this wasn't happening. 'Wait! DNA tests!! They'll see it's really not me they're after!!' she thought, and hope glimmered in her heart.

"GUILTY!!" chorused the jury.

Marin, on the stand by a sleeping lawyer, stood in shock. "WHAT?!" she shreiked. She looked around. "But...but...but...What about the DNA tests?!" she demanded.

The judge, a pudgy-faced man in the stereotypical powdered wig, glowered and banged his gavel. "Miss Marian! You know that you never left a single trace except a card saying cryptically, 'Mad Marian Saves the Day!' on it. No address or anything, just your photo. With the massive amount of evidence you left, though, it appears that you're indeed guilty. And finally, too," he added, and brought out a list. A long list. A list that sprang to the floor. "You're not only guilty of this count of attempted robbery, but you're also guilty of 493 counts robbery, 231 counts vandalism, 583 counts of disturbing the peace, an amazing 47 attempted murders, and over 700 capital crimes!!" he listed. He smiled triumphantly. "It's about time we caught you, you feisty little wench! And we didn't have to pay a single cent in bounty money!!"

Marin just stared blankly as she heard this. 'No...No...'

The judge pointed at her. "I sentence you to four life terms in maximum security prison!!" he roared, then banged his gavel.

In her prison cell late the next night--tonight--she sat crying on her bed. She was in her prison orange jumpsuit.

"Breaking news!" a television down the way said, and she looked through the bars on down to see some guards watching the news. A shot of a running figure was seen for a moment. "A new criminal has appeared, and from her card she left behind, it says that the day is saved by 'Mad Marin'!!" the announcer said.

Marin blanched. "SHE'S RUINING MY LIFE!!" she roared, trembling. She couldn't take it anymore. She was in prision for something she didn't do, many things, actually; the true theif was out there still; and she wasn't given a fair trial at all!! She did what anyone else would do!!

"HEEEEEAAAALLLLP!!"

-----

We looked at one another, raising our eyebrows high. "Holy cow," I muttered, amazed. "Things just keep getting darker and darker in the Pokémon world, now, don't they?"

Hunter and Meyers nodded, getting up and putting on their suits. We all yawned again, though. "Man, I hope that we don't end up dropping dead asleep," Meyers worriedly said.

A crackle, and then Kahn came onscreen. We all snapped to attention. "I'm terribly sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night like this," he appologized, in the day there, "but this is a mission that you MUST accept, since, well, you're the only ones there. We've tried entering our television sets--even tried yours--but nothing." He furrowed his brow. "If you need to, grab some coffee. But night's going to be the best time to do this, of course. It's clear, unfortionately, but it's possible. Remember, anything's possible if you believe in yourself and can actually do it. This is going to be pretty tricky, though, so you'll have to do your best, regardless of your sleepiness."

We gulped and looked at one another. "Well, guys, you heard him," I said, a little nervous that we'd have to try when we were hindered.

Kahn raised an eyebrow. "Wait, didn't you guys get some of those Wake-Up Pills R&D made a while back?" he asked.

Hunter started. "Indeed we did!" he replied, and fished out a Tic-Tacs-style box from his pocket. The pills looked like Tic-Tacs, actually, except for being half black and half blue with a yellow star on it. "I was the only one who got them, though," he said, and handed us each one. We swallowed them. "These are supposed to last us through one performance, right?" he asked Kahn.

Kahn nodded. "Yes, but use them wisely," he warned us. "One per performance, and only if you NEED them. They're hard to make. Now...Don't let me down!!" He rose from his chair and whipped his arm out. "Agents are...GO!!"

MISSION: Breakout!! Make Like Shawshank and Then Some!!

Marin whimpered and looked at her dingy cell. "That's it," she whispered, and held a shaking fist. "I'm gonna get outta here and clear my name!!" She looked around at all the insane alarms and such. She got those dread lines and shiverred. "That's easier said than done, however..."

Just then, she heard rapid footsteps. She looked down the hall and saw us skid to her door. I held out my badge. "The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" I announced, without a single guard noticing. "We'll help you out, you stick it to the Man!!" The music started, and we started our wave.

Suddenly, Marin felt full of energy and started to wave, too. "WOOOOOOOOAH!!"

"""Are you ready? ...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

WHOOOO-HOO! YEEEE-HOO!!

WHOOOO-HOO! YEEEE-HOO!!

WHOOOO-HOO! YEEEE-HOO!!

(WHOOOO-HOO! YEEEE-HOO!!)

If I could escape

I would, but first of all let me say

I must appologize for acting skank 'n treating you this way

As our extended-intro version of "The Sweet Escape" by Gwen Steffani ft. Akon (it even has the jailcell-clank heard in EVERY one of his songs, which drives me nuts when my sister plays it full blast[really, it does) started up, Marin tried to pick her primary lock with a hairpin. At the start, as standard, she was doing only fine, but, proving those pills were WORKIN', baby!, she quickly started picking like crazy, while using the other hand to pry open the keypad by her door and mess with the wires in an attempt to make that work, too.

Suddenly, her door opened up. She grinned and started to step out, but stopped suddenly when she saw a red beam right in her way. She froze, cringing. 'Yipe! That's for the alarms!!' she remembered. Carefully, she slid between them. She soon stood outside, smiling at her handiwork. 'Good thing I've watched so many prison breakout flicks!'

O

'Cuz I've been acting like sour milk fell on the floor

It's your fault you didn't shut the refridgerator

Maybe that's the reason I've been acting so cold

She looked ahead and saw people in uniform all over the place, as well as alarms and other traps. "What is this place, 'Guards 'R' Us'?!" she whispered hoarsely. She steeled herself, though, and began to run along.

If I could escape (escape)

And recreate a place that's own world (own world)

And I could be your favorite girl

Forever

Perfectly together

And tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet (be sweet)

I know I've been a real bad girl (bad girl)

I didn't mean for you to get hurt

'Soever

We can make it better

And tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

(Sweet escape, sweet escape)

She ran fast and was dodging every laser and such in her path, practically dancing around them, but then, Meyers messed up just a smidgen and was a teensy bit early. She ended up losing a little enthusiasm and went moderately fast, being cautious. We got back on track, though, and quickly, she was dancing and dodging around again.

She ended up going so blisteringly fast through the hallways, she was nearly at a door outside. Which had a few guards, of course. Three, to be exact. She clenched her teeth and fists, peeking at them around a corner. "Dang! How'm I gonna get past them?!" she wondered. She had an idea. "Let's just hope this works," she muttered, and cleared her throat to make it sound deep. "HEY!! SOMEONE JUST BROUGHT TONS OF DONUTS AND COFFEE INTO THE LOUNGE!! HURRY BEFORE THEY'RE ALL GONE!!" she shouted.

The three guards gasped and zoomed out, not noticing her at all. She sniggered and dashed out the door. "Suck-aaaahs!!" she couldn't help whisper to herself. (We had to resist laughing at the stereotypicallity of it all)

O

I wanna get away

To our sweet escape

You held me down

I'm at my lowest boiling point

Come help me out

I need to get me out of the joint

Come on, let's bounce

Counting on you to turn me around

Instead of clowning around let's look for some common ground

Marin then whacked herself on the head, realizing she'd just triggered an alarm. "D'OH!" she cursed, hearing Growlithes being released to chase her. "Gotta HIDE!!"

(We looked at each other, wondering how she'd get outta THIS one; climbing up a tree wouldn't work, since she was being followed by dogs who could smell her.)

So baby, times get a little crazy

I've been getting a little lazy

Waiting for you to come save me

I can see that you're angry

By the way that you treat me

Hopefully you don't leave me

Want to take you with me

If I could escape (escape)

And recreate a place that's own world (own world)

And I could be your favorite girl

Forever

Perfectly together

And tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet (be sweet)

I know I've been a real bad girl (bad girl)

I didn't mean for you to get hurt

'Soever

We can make it better

And tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

(Sweet escape, sweet escape)

Marin was running as fast as she could, and evading any searchlights that came her way, and the barking of the Growlithes was a long way off. Since this was a really fun part that we practiced incessantly to perfect, we did it without falling back once.

Soon, though, she was getting tired. "pant...pant...Ugh, I need to hide somewhere!!" she groaned, then looked behind her. "EEK! Oh, NO!!" More searchlights were gaining on her! She looked around frantically for a place to hide. "Come on, come ON!!" She saw a river, suddenly, and knew that the water would stall the Fire-type pokémon, and across it was a huge signboard! "YES!!" she cried, and bounded across.

When the searchlights flashed, all they saw was a signboard, nothing else. Behind it, panting and wiping sweat off her brow, was Marin. "Phew!"

O

(WHOOOOOO-HOO!! WHEEEEEE-HOO!!)

If I could escape...

If I could escape...

She got into Banditome and looked around. "It's the perfect time of night for her to--" she began, but then an almost inaudible crash of glass was heard. She whipped her head around to the sound and narrowed her eyes. "STRIKE!!" She dashed off.

We looked at each other. "Finish out!!" I chimed, grinning.

'Cuz I've been acting like sour milk fell on the floor

It's your fault you didn't shut the refridgerator

Maybe that's the reason I've been acting so cold

If I could escape (escape)

And recreate a place that's own world (own world)

And I could be your favorite girl

Forever

Perfectly together

And tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

If I could be sweet (be sweet)

I know I've been a real bad girl (bad girl)

I didn't mean for you to get hurt

'Soever

We can make it better

And tell me boy, now wouldn't that be sweet?

(Sweet escape, sweet escape)

At first, she was dashed at top speed, but the fast part made us mess up slightly and she slowed down a little, panting. We picked back up, though, and she raced off again.

Soon, she found the culprit. "YES!!" she crowed as she saw what would've been her in a mirror.

Hearing the cry, Marian whipped her head around. "WHAT?!" she cried, and was tackled down by Marin. "WWHHAAAAGH!!"

Marin grabbed her arms and fought to keep her down. "You're not going to get away THIS time, Mad Marian!!" she seethed.

"FREEZE!! BOTH OF--you?" Officer Jenny shouted, but stopped when she saw twin faces looking at her. "What on--? Mad Marian and Mad Marin...?!"

Marin pointed at Marian. "I TOLD you it wasn't me!!" she cried. "She just yoinked my hat and switched purses with me, and BAM!"

Jenny came over and took off Marian's hat, then gasped, looking between the faces. "It's a perfect match! But then...wait...uhhhh..." She sweatdropped in confusion. "I-I'm gonna have to take you BOTH to court for this!!" she told them both, cuffing them.

Later on, though, the judge banged his gavel. "The DNA tests have proven that the true owner of this sunhat," he said, holding it up, and then pointed to Marin, "is the perfectly-innocent Marin Edwards!!" He pointed to the inside. "While both of you wore gloves all the time, neither of you wore a shower cap!!" He pointed triumphantly at Marian. "Every criminal makes their fatal mistake eventually, and you've made yours, Mad Marian AND Mad Marin!!" Marian squaked and blanched.

Marin, with a better, more attentive lawyer this time, gasped and grinned, clasping her hands in glee. "Does this mean I'm cleared of all charges, your honor??" she asked, eyes swimming hopefully.

The judge grinned at her. "You're absolutely correct," he told her happily. He pointed at Marian. "And NOW, Marian, you've got IDENTITY THEFT and FRAMING on your record!! Now you'll NEVER get out of jail!!" he roared valiantly. He banged his gavel. "Case closed!!"

Marian cried in protest as the guards dragged her away. "NO!! WAIT!! NO!! NOOOOOO!!"

Marin smirked at her as she was dragged off. "You steal my life, I get you sentenced to 8! That's karma for ya..." she remarked at the master theif.

"And for assisting in capturing a notorious criminal," the judge sighed, obviously reluctant, "and practically catching her on your own, Marin, you've just gotten the $5,000,000 bounty we'd put on her head."

Marin gawked at that number and squealed with joy. "...AND IT ROCKS!!"

WHOOOOO-HOOO!! (I wanna get away) WHEEE-HOO!!

(To our sweet escape)

WHOOOOO-HOOO!! (I wanna get away) WHEEE-HOO!! (Yeah!)

WHOOOOO-HOOO!! WHEEE-HOO!!

WHOOOOO-HOOO!! WHEEE-HOO!!...

A few days later, Marin was lounging in a chair and sipping fine wine from a golden goblet while reading, dressed in an elegant pink dress and long white lace-trimmed gloves. Behind her was a fade-away to an image of Marian trying to pick her lock. She was looking up sheepishly and sweatdropping as a guard's legs stood over her on the other side of her cell.

We watched from the courtroom's window as Marin jumped for joy at the news of her winning so much money. We grinned at each other and smiled, the 10:30 sun behind our shoulders and warming us. We then turned--and felt like falling asleep right there. The pills had stopped their effect, since we'd just seen through our job being done. We laughed to each other weakly and trudged to get back to camp.

"Where were YOU guys?" Ash asked, looking at us and our tired faces and weak bodies. They were about to start packing up.

"Mission at midnight," I replied wearilly, arms hanging limply down as I went on.

"Had to wait 'till morning for the case to be over," Meyers added.

"Can we sleep now?" begged Hunter.

Ash looked to his friends, and then smiled sympathetically. "Okay, we can stay another day or whatever," he replied.

"""Thank you,""" we muttered, and fell on the spot, konking out instantly.

Ash and friends looked at us, each other, then laughed.

When we awoke, it was late afternoon. We were on our sleeping bags--the others must have moved us. We looked and saw lunch was being eaten. We grinned and got up, re-energized enough to do normal things. "Sweet, breakfast!" I joked, and the others laughed.

Right as we almost got to the table, though, our badges beeped. We anime-fell forwards, then got up and whipped them out wearilly. To our relief, no mission breifing was visible. Instead, it was the back of Commander Kahn. He got up and turned around, whipping his arm out into a thumbs-up as usual. With a loud voice, he heartilly congratulated, "YEEAAAAAAHH!!"

We grinned at each other.

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

Ash and the others stared at us. "Uuuuhh...Huh?" he went, and we laughed.

"Commander?" I asked. He nodded and motioned for me to turn the badge around to face Ash and company.

"Well, Mr. Ketcham," he said, "every time one of our Agent trioes clears a mission, if they do it exceptionally well, I give them a hearty 'YEEAAAHH!!' to congratulate them. And, of course, they've got to announce that their mission is complete." He nodded. "I usually do it right after their mission is over, but this time, I waited until they were rested. Now, then, Agents..." He waited, and I turned my badge back. "...That was an exceptionally well-done mission. I'm proud of you three. And thank you for doing so well and helping that poor girl clear her name."

We smiled and nodded in unison. "Just doin' our job, sir," Hunter said.

Commander Kahn smiled. "Very good. Now, let's hope that there aren't any more missions today...you don't look like you'd last another mission without messing up your sleep cycles considerably. On that note, DIS-MISSED!!"

"""YESSIR!!""" We closed them shut and sat down.

"What did you guys do this time?" Dawn asked.

Meyers grabbed a sandwich and bit into it jealously. "Oh, just helped a woman escape from Banditome's maximum-security prison and clear her name of being framed by a notorious bandit named Mad Marian," he said nonchalantly. As the three humans and one pokémon gawked, he waved his hand in a shooing motion and simply said, "All in a day's work."

(BIG SPACE FOR PAGE BREAK)

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(Cuz I've been act-ing like so-ur milk fell on the)

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(floor It's )

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your fault you didn't shut the re-frid-ger-a-tor

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[May-be that's the rea-son I've been act-ing so co-o-old

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FAINTS from the note chart I was really stuck before I listened to YouTube closely and found she makes "didn't" "din." PHOO!!


	9. Move Along

(9)( ) (It's) (Marching) (Season...)

[...And trust me, I'm not completely happy about it...at least for during Band Camp...

I sighed as I looked at my badge's watch's date. It told us "real" time, not this world's time, as our normal wristwatches did. "Man, I was actually looking forward to this year's marching show," I muttered.

Meyers raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Torture's not til August. It's still July."

I shook my head. "But it's getting close to the time we should BE there," I told him. "Who knows? Maybe we could be going on and on with weeks flying by, and we'll miss Torture altogether. And you know what that would mean..." I shuddered at the thought.

Ash blinked, then turned and looked at me. We were busy walking along to the next town. "You're talking about being tortured??" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Meyers and I looked at him, then laughed. "No, No, No, Ash," Meyers said, waving a hand, "that's just what Lock 'n' I like to call Band Camp."

Ash looked confused. "'Band Camp?'" he repeated.

We blinked, then looked at each other. "They don't have marching bands in Japan?" I asked skeptically.

Meyers shrugged. "Well, if they didn't, it'd make sense," he said. "Not only does marching seem more of a European thing, but also, remember that these guys really don't have THAT much space compared to us. They might not have big football feilds all over the place for us to march." He turned to look at Ash. "You know about marching bands?" he asked.

Ash looked up in thought. "Uuuuhh...Well, I know about marching, like soldiers do, and I think I heard about this one thing that happened really long ago in America...I think this band, on a battlefeild, started playing something...so, uh, is that what you mean?" he asked. He looked helpless, like the guy trying to give what little knowledge he has and knowing he looks like a fool.

"That would be 'The World Turned Upside-Down,' I do believe," Hunter said.

"And no, Ash," Brock piped up, "I think what they mean is something that goes on a lot in American high schools. Remember, they're Americans," he reminded him. "But I think that they like to have a bunch of people play instruments and march around in different figures, sorta like figure skating or something. But it's very competetive and hard, I hear," he said. He glanced back at us for help.

I nodded. "Marching band itself is just marching and playing at the same time, and is basically parades and junk," I began. I pointed to my feet and began to roll-step. "Not to brag, but I've got a perfect 8-to-5 step. This is called roll-stepping, since we roll from our heels down. Now look at my body." I paused a moment for them to watch. Beside me, Meyers had begun to roll-step in time with me. "Notice anything?"

Ash tilted his head. "Uhhh..." He shrugged.

Brock snapped his fingers. "Your upper bodies aren't bouncing as you walk!" he exclaimed.

"Bingo," Meyers said, pointing at him. "We do this so that we can blow a constant stream of air while we march." He turned around and continued marching, but backwards. I growled in envy; while I was good at forwards marching, he was an expert at backwards. "This is backwards marching. A lot of us find this the hardest kind of step, but I personally find it the easiest. We have to tighten our cores and our...gluteus maximus muscles--" (a few sniggers were heard from Dawn and Ash) "--and go perfectly on our toes." He spun back around and continued marching forwards.

"And as you can see, we have to keep our arms up like so," I said. We had both put our arms up the proper way when we began marching. "This is what we do when not holding our instruments." I stopped marching and walked normally. "Truth be told, it's a pain in the butt. You have to be as perfect as you possibly can be, or else you'll get yelled at."

"The reason we call Band Camp Torture is because they have us do that for HOURS," explained Meyers, who had fallen out as well. "It's like a taste of boot camp. Well, minus actual drill sergents."

"Instead, you've got ornery Band directers, drum majors, and section leaders, not to mention the color guard's instructer!" I said sarcastically-cheerilly, holding a finger up. Me and Meyers laughed a little. "But seriously, the reason we go to Band Camp, a week or two weeks, depending on what they want, of pure hard heck, is because, after it all, it's fun. It's really not all that bad...when the sky's a blanket of clouds above us and it's not 87 degrees," I weakly joked. We both shuddered.

"The worst part is when it rains," said Meyers. "The next day, or when it stops raining during the day, it's so humid and hot, it's almost unbearable."

"The fact all the bird poop that comes from the buggers coming in for the pond near school scattered all over getting wet and grosser doesn't help," I added.

Dawn made a face. "Ewww...and I bet you guys have to step in it a lot, huh?" she asked, sounding unhappy at the thought.

""Don't rub it in..."" we groaned, shivering from the gross-out factor.

Ash grimaced at the thought. "So you guys do all that for what?" he asked.

We got straight up again, proud-chested. "To compete against other schools in the state and give people a show by marching in sets that bring everyone on the feild into positions in a way that just can't be perfectly recreated!" I answered.

"Not to mention the added bonus of our 100-something-person band getting beaten to a pulp in the state finals against all the other schools, each consisting of 200+ band members, including one that did the same music we did!!" Meyers added, his eye twitching and an anger vein appearing. As he said this, one appeared on my head, too. We both kept smiling, though, despite our fury at that horrible loss last year.

""AND, GOSH-DARNIT, IT'S FUN!!"" we both joked together. Hunter started to laugh, and we both had to laugh, as well.

Ash, Brock, Dawn, and Pikachu sweatdropped as they looked at each other, chuckling nervously. "No offense to you guys," Ash said, "but you're kinda weird."

We laughed a little more at this. "Of course!" I said. "We're Band geeks!" Meyers and I chuckled at this.

Hunter held up his hands helplessly. "I'm not in Band, but I'm still weird, myself," he said. "I don't really see the real appeal in working your butts off over something so time-consuming and focus-needing all for just about nothing."

"Well, it's fun, really, it is," Meyers said, honest. "It's at least an experience you'll never forget. The worst part, really, is the elements. Having to march first in the heat, then at night practices in the freezing cold is bad, and standing still while waiting outside for your turn marching isn't fun, but the rest is good."

"The bus rides, the actual show sometimes, and talking with friends is pretty good," I exampled. "Not bad, really."

Brock smiled. "Well, Ash, looks like we learn something every day, don't we?" he asked, looking at his friend.

Ash and Pikachu nodded. "Yeah, I guess so!" He laughed.

Suddenly, our badges beeped. Together as one, me, Meyers, and Hunter all flipped them open. "Another mission?" Ash asked, but we shushed him simultaneously.

-----

It was a bright, sunny day at a generic high school. A title came up as we saw the front of some girl's light grey shirt: "Rosevale High School Marching Rhydon." We saw a drawing of a Rhydon stomping along with some notes behind it. "C'mon, guys!!" shouted a voice, pointing up to the owner of the shirt. We then see a girl's face. She's got red hair bunched up in a ponytail, fastened with a grey scrunchie. She had strong, teal eyes and no make-up. "Get those toes up!!"

(Erin Worchester, 16, leading Drum Major)

We then saw an enormous block of people trying to march on a green football feild, to our surprise. And we saw them march along. Very badly. Arms down, barely any roll-steps, and nobody looked focused.

"COME ON, people!!" begged an angry male voice. The camera turned to find a short, somewhat chubby man with greying hair and a big bald spot. He had on a stone-grey polo shirt and was holding what me and Meyers identified as a master drill book. He had bushy eyebrows and wide, steely grey eyes behind a pair of big glasses. "This is the last day of Band Camp, and you're NOT making me happy about it!"

(Paul Simmers, 46, Band director)

We saw a shot of some of the guard then, waving their flags about. Out of sync. And in different directions. A few were standing with a confused look on their faces. "One-TWO-three-FOUR...Oh, for Pete's sake..." A dumpy woman with tousled brown hair, blush, and a pair of small pink-rimmed sunglasses over her small, brown eyes stood with a clipboard, dressed in a blue tank top and jeans. She put her hand to her forehead. "Guys, come on, we've been practicing for a month...don't fall on me NOW..." she groaned.

(Eliza Panner, 38, Color Guard director)

Erin came down the ladder from her platform. "I can't believe it," she grumbled.

"Okay, take a break, guys!!" shouted Paul. The band cheered and, with more energy than they'd just exibited, ran to a shade-covered table with water on it. He then turned to Erin. "Me, neither," he agreed.

Eliza came over, shaking her head. "I just don't get it," she said. "It's the last day of Band Camp, and they've been perpetually falling apart." She groaned. "Like last year..."

"...And the year before..." Paul said.

"...And the year before, when I joined," finished Erin. All three were looking up as they remembered their past three horrible years.

"We had that one year a LONG time ago," Paul pointed out, "where the band pulled together and actually DID it."

"But the chance of them doing that is slim to none," moaned Eliza, anger-veining. "If only they'd just LISTEN!!"

Erin frowned, then walked over to the rest of the kids, who were busy having fun splashing water on each other. A few even had some Water-type pokémon out (we supposed that some trainers just do it as a summer vacation thing) and were telling them to help cool everyone off. Seeing how much energy everyone had, Erin anger-veined and roared, "Do you guys even want to actually get ANYWHERE this year?!"

Everyone turned and looked at her, nonplussed. "Yeah..." "Duh!" "Of course we do!" "Uh...yyyyeeeeaaaaahhh..." Various responses came back, all saying basically "Yes."

Erin anger-veined bigger. "WELL, ACT LIKE IT, THEN!!" she screamed back. "You practice how you perform!! And the way things look now, you're doin' pretty AWFUL!"

"GIVE US A BREAK!!" they all shouted back. "YOU'RE not the one out here in this heat following orders like it's boot camp!!"

Erin fumed, but said nothing back, and instead stomped back. "They're lazy, good-for-nothing idiots! They think that everything's gonna work out, but it won't, the way they're going!" she complained.

Paul grimaced. "I know, Erin, I know," he said. "But it's all them. We just lead them."

"But they never LISTEN!" Eliza protested. "We'll never get through to them!!"

"Well, maybe some of them actually snapped out of it from me yelling at them," Erin said. She got back on the stand. "Everyone back to the opening set!!"

When they were ready, one of the assistant DM's started the cloks of the counting block. The result was everyone going all over, totally messing up.

The guard wasn't doing well, either; they were failing to catch flags, some getting smacked by them.

Angry, all three leaders yelled, """QUIT JOKING AROUND!!"""

The band spat back, "SHUT UP!!" with the force of at least a hundred and fifty people.

Erin, Paul, and Eliza all slumped down. "We'll never get first place at finals..." Erin lamented.

Paul added, "...We just can't do it..."

Eliza ended, "...It's...I can't take it anymore..."

Together, all three of them raised their voices to the skies and screamed,

"""HHEEAAAALLLLP!!"""

-----

We snapped our badges shut, raised eyebrows all around. "Well, speak of the devil!" I chuckled, looking to my teammates. I then looked at Ash. "You guys go on ahead, you should probably be at the Center in the next town when we're done. Though it might be a while..."

Ash and the others nodded. "Good luck!!" Dawn bade.

Meyers pointed forwards. "ONWARDS!! FOR GREAT TORTURE!!" he cried.

""TAKE OFF EVERY 'ZIG'!!"" continued me and Hunter.

"""MOVE 'ZIG'!!""" we shouted, and tore off, activating the jets in our shoes(that we had repaired through having talked with Foxx, the cheif techie at HQ).

Behind us, everyone sweat-dropped. """Oooooookeeeeeeyy..."""

MISSION: Forward March!! One Time At Band Camp!!

The three looked at each other and then at the goofing-off marchers. "We've GOT to get them to MARCH!" Erin said, clenching a shaking fist. "There's no way otherwise!"

Just then, we set down behind them. "They worked!!" I muttered behind me, then, as the music began to play, shoved my badge out to the three looking at us like we were aliens or something. "The Elite Beat Agents are at your service! You show those lazybones who's boss, we're here for back-up!" I informed them.

We got into position and started the wave. Together, our triple targets began to wave, too.

"""WOOOOOOAAH!!"""

"""Are you ready? ...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking

When you fall everyone stands

Another day and you've had your fill of sinking

With the life held in your...

As we began our cover of The All-American Rejects' smash hit "Move Along," [which needs to be in the next real game, I swear Erin got up onto the stand and started the band up again. At first, people were just meandering around, but then, the thought of getting first place over everyone else this year at finals drove her to conduct with energy that seemed to eminate out to everyone else. In an instant, we were seeing perfect focus. Sure, here and there were a few mess-ups, but this is practice; besides, the mess-ups were pretty rare. With two marchers among us, we made sure to do OUR best, too, in helping them along.

"Okay, let's try the first song through continuous!" Erin soon ordered. The band got into position, wearilly. But they went through the entire song, seamlessly, without any error at all. Erin gasped and clasped her hands together, smiling. "I can't belive it!!" she squealed. "THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, GUYS!!!" she pumped her arm in victory.

O

Hands are shaking cold

These hands are meant to hold

Speak to me!

Next, Eliza looked at her guard a half hour after lunch started for an hour's practice. "Alright, Guard! It's time to nail this!" The guard wasn't happy, with many people not listening, and a few sitting down and still eating lunch. Eliza blanched.

Fortunately, we were already doing perfect, since this song was actually very easy, and we were getting into the chorus. We were SET.

When all you got to keep is strong

Move along, move along, like I know ya do

And even when your hope is gone

Move along, move along, just to make it through

Move along

Move along

We were a bit overconfident, though, and we didn't do it perfect. So, while at first, the guard was listening and doing beautiful steps, with Eliza clapping along the beat, they quickly got tired and began moving sluggishly and barely doing things, often not in time. Eliza wasn't jolly at this, but it wasn't that bad yet. But we then got back on it and they did well. Problem was, though, one of the instrumental parts that we had to dance to came and we were a little underprepared. As a result, our performance made THEIR performance SUFFER. How? Well, let me tell you from personal experience: It's painful to [nearly get hit with a flag going really fast. And in the head, too. Eliza was squaking and flailing her arms in frustration. "GET IT TOGETHER!!" she screamed. We got back by the end, though, and they recovered, snapping out of it.

Overall, though, we did well, and the guard got a great practice session in. (As fate would have it, it was a real fluke when they practiced badly, as it was a part they were actually good at normally, so it really wasn't that bad for us...or was it?...) When the band got back and Band Camp resumed, they did one quick run-through of the entire show. "Okay, guard!! Let's do this!" Eliza said beforehand.

Then, the guard obeyed perfectly. "RUNRUNRUN!" cried Eliza as the guard had to run through quickly-advancing diagonals to the other side without getting hit. "Together, now!" she reminded them as they tossed and caught in unison their muskets(fake weapons are another thing that the guard uses). "Aaaaand NOW!" she cued, and the flag-carriers spun beautifully.

"FABULOUS!!" Eliza applauded later, looking happy. "The way you're going now, we're going to get Best Visual for sure!!"

O

So a day when you've lost yourself completely

Could be a night when your life ends

Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving

All the pain held in your...

Paul tapped his baton on the stand. "Alright, everyone," he said, holding his arms up, ready to conduct, "let's get this music down!" He looked at everyone giving him blank stares, and he sweat-dropped. "You...HAVE practiced, right...?"

Hands are shaking cold

Your hands are mine to hold

Speak to me!

When all you got to keep is strong

Move along, move along, like I know ya do

And even when your hope is gone

Move along, move along, just to make it through

Move along

(Go on, go on, go on, go on)

When every thing is wrong, we move along

(Go on, go on, go on, go on)

When every thing is wrong, we move along...

At first, the band didn't sound too good, and Paul wasn't happy. He had to stop sometimes to detail some things, then start up, then detail things. But then, as fate would have it(as in, we got our own act together), the band began to play beautifully and didn't stop mid-song. Paul looked happy at this as he conducted.

"OKAY!! Do we have this all down pat?" he asked of the band at the end of the song rehersal. Everyone nodded. "You'd better...Now to march...AND play!!"

And, lo and behold, the band had the music so down, they performed both marching and playing in perfect unity without one tripping up the other. Paul practically had tears running down his cheeks in joy. "Marvelous! Positively beautiful!! They actually told the truth!!" he cheered.

O

Along...along...along...along...

When all you got to keep is strong

Move along, move along, like I know ya do...

And even when your hope is gone

Move along, move along

Just to make it through!

The big day (well, night) came. The band boarded, traveled in, and got off the buses to the place where the finals were to be held indoors. Everyone was nervous, especially the drum majors and the two directors. A few bands were watched as they did their stellar performances. The three main targets we had looked at each other. They nodded, then turned to the band. """Alright, everyone, let's give 'em a REAL show!""" they told the band, who nodded back, gulping.

The band marched on-feild...and we went there as cheerleaders for them. I looked to Hunter, then to Meyers. "C'mon, guys, it's time we finished this one out!" I said. "For a band that never wins!!" I felt a little envious that I was helping another band win, but I fought to keep that down.

When all you got to keep is strong

Move along, move along, like I know ya do

And even when your hope is gone

Move along, move along, just to make it through

When all you got to keep is strong

Move along, move along, like I know ya do

And even when your hope is gone

Move along, move along, just to make it through

Move along

At first, the pressure made the band a bit nervous, so they didn't do as grandly, but then, the entire group's desire to succeed won out, and they performed how they practiced. When we got to the final chorus, where a chorus of children join in with the singers, we felt goosebumps on us as we performed our best, especially me and Meyers, proudly looking at the band as they did their best, and it was almost like we didn't have to motivate them anymore, they looked so good. But we finished out. With all the force our hearts could exert for them, we cheered them on.

Finally, the band was done, and they walked off, waiting for results. Nervously awaiting results, Erin, Paul, and Eliza gulped that they'd make a high place. At last, the time came when all the bands came into the gym where the marching took place and heard the results.

"And the results are..." the announcer began, and everyone in every band and in the stands gulped. After what seemed an eternity, the announcer continued, "...Well, slap me with a Magikarp and call me a Milotic!! First place goes to the Rosevale Marching Rhydon!!"

Exclaimation points probably would've appeared over the heads of all the bands, but they all kept at attention. But later, when they didn't have to be strict, the entire band erupted into cheers and whoops and hollers of pure, unadulterated joy.

Erin, Paul, and Eliza jumped up and down together, holding hands. "WE DID IT!! WE PULLED THROUGH!!" Erin squealed.

"I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE THIS DAY!!" Paul cried, really crying in joy now.

"FABULOUS! PHENOMONIALLY FABULOUS!!" Eliza crowed.

They stopped. """But...""" They turned and faced the band. """THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT YOU GUYS!!"""

The band cheered and screamed an absolute "YYEEAAAAH!!"

(Go on, go on, go on, go on)

Right back what is wrong

We move along...

In a picture of the entire band sitting, it is very easy to see three very widely grinning people: a drum major, a guard director, and a Band director. And everyone else didn't have a bad smile, to boot.

Of course, we had left just after they were done with the show. We saw them end and nodded, knowing that they were set. We turned and activated our super-secret technology that enabled us to travel through time and space, which we used to follow targets when what they do spans an immense time frame, such as the months between Band Camp's end and the finals. We traveled through until we finally came out behind the Center in the town that we were going to be in at lunch.

We went around the front and into the center, panting a bit from the time-space traveling. We walked over into the restaraunt and found Ash and co. eating lunch. They turned and saw us, smiling. "Guys! How'd it go?" Ash asked.

Before we could answer, our badges beeped. Tiredly, we pulled them out. To our releif, it was Commander Kahn, doing his spinning-standing thumbs-up for a job well-done. "YYEEEAAAAAH!!"

We smiled weakly and nodded, then continued, despite being in public.

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

We were actually a bit tired, since the drive to perform for them had left us and therefore stopped negating the effects of fatigue, so Brock ordered our usual things for lunch at Centers and we ate. We felt a lot better, then, but we earnestly hoped for no more missions until we had a good night's rest.

I sighed afterwards while we left to be on the road again. "After helping them out..." I looked to the late afternoon sky. "...I feel like giving it my all when we get back home to our own marching band."

Meyers nodded, smiling. "Yeah..."

(BIG SPACE FOR NEXT PAGE)

TOP OF SCREEN

(2) (4) (6)

(7)

(1) (3) (5) (8)

-------------------------------

/ \ \

(( 2,5 ))

\ \ /

3,4 1,6

-------------------------------

[2

[4 [3 [1

/[5

[7 \ \ [6

\\

\[

-------------------------------

(When all you got to keep is strong )

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8-----)

(&) Move al-long (&) move al-long (&)

- () 1 2 3---- 4 5 6---- 

[Like I know ya do (&) (1) (2) instr.

[1 2 3 4 5-- [ 6 7

When I say (&), (1), and (2), I mean those times in the measure in terms of beat. (&) is the "and" of the last beat, here made to be the and of the beat right before the next one, so that, in note form, getting off on the phrase markers and hitting the next actual marker make two perfect eigth notes (♬). (Dunno if this font allows Unicode, but if it can, there.) Unless otherwise noted, it'll be like that all the time when I do this. Pretty easy song except for the chorus, if you can do lots of good eigth notes.

Man, this be gettin' fun!! And what Lock and Meyers describe, yes, is what my experience in Show Band basically is. ;;


	10. SEASON'S CALL

(10)( ) (The) (Ouendan) (Continue)

Meanwhile, the Ouendan traveled along, trying to find their way around. They had discovered, to their displeasure, that they were, in fact, quite a ways away from Sinnoh, being in Johto. They didn't have enough money to get a boat and ride all the way there from Johto, so they'd just have to find a way to get there by foot. If we just hook up with the other people from our world here, they rationalized, we will have a better chance of getting home.

Unfortunately, things weren't going according to plan at the moment. "Are you sure we're supposed to go along here?" asked Suzu, glancing at her Morning City-dropout collegue skeptically.

Hibiki rotated the map first this way, then that, like a steering wheel. He had a confused expression on his face. "I'm...PRETTY sure," he replied slowly, sweat-dropping.

Kioshi anger-veined, then whipped his head around. "Dolt!" he shouted in English, and snatched the map. "Lemme see that! I'm the one who's got any experience in orienteering amoung us; I should've taken it in the first place," he irritably muttered in his native language, looking at the map. He checked his surroundings, then the sun in the sky. An Aipom skittered across the road while he did this. Above, a flock of Pidgey flapped along.

After a moment, Suzu asked, "Well? Where are we, scout?"

Kioshi sweat-dropped. "Errr..Seeing as I haven't been looking at the sun in the sky and we've been changing direction so much, and that we have no compass..." He looked back at everyone and smiled sheepishly. "...I'm as lost as Hibiki."

Hibiki and Suzu anime-fell. ""Uwaaaahh..."" They darted back up and grabbed back the map and began to argue.

Things had been going not so well for a while. The Japanese cheer squad had had a tough time procuring supplies, since they weren't as loaded as the EBA or Ash's group, and were running low on funds. They were approaching Team Rocket's level of poverty and constant hunger. That, and the heat didn't help them in their long sleeved uniforms, especially Kioshi's long, black gakuran. Their feet hurt, they had no camping supplies, and they began to feel like they needed some cheering of their own. All this, plus the fact they were now without a clue directionally, has culminated into their quarrel now.

Suddenly, they felt something. The same thing they felt when they knew someone was in trouble. Stopping their fight, they rushed off to investigate.

-----

A mountain loomed in the background. Around it was a moat of sorts, which was full of natural, glistening spring water. A lone house stood, being only a small hut, with a bus stop nearby. In front of the house were two people. One wore a coat, was male, and had short hair.

(Benishirina, Pokémon Naturalist [US name Cullen Cailix, I think)

The other had braided green hair and a pair of big, thin-rimmed, circular glasses.

(Luna, Pokémon Naturalist [?? Jap.)

They were sitting and talking. "I can't beleive the power of this spring water!" Benishirina said, holding up a beaker with water sloshing inside. "There are still so many things we can find out about this...I'm a little excited."

Luna sighed, smiling sadly. "Yeah, but we have to keep our lips tight on this," she reminded him. "If people realize that this spring is helpful, it'll turn into a tourist attraction, causing the water to become contaminated. The contaminated water would disrupt the habitat of the pokémon on Mt. Quena, the source of the water." They both looked at each other, then sighed.

"But this is such a find...We've known about it for so long..." Benishirina looked away. "Oh, if only we could tell someone and then NOT have them turn it into a massive media extraveganza," he dreamed. Suddenly, he had an idea.

Luna looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "UH-oh. I don't like that look." She crossed her arms. "Don't think that we can trust anyone with a medical marvel such as this. If the secret gets out, then we'll have a heck of a time making sure only certain people are allowed to collect some of the spring water. Otherwise, we'd be causing harm to the pokémon here, and it's not like we don't cause a lot of harm to pokémon habitats elsewhere!"

Benishirina nodded uneasilly. "Y-yeah, of course," he said. "And why would I ever think of telling anyone? I just...had an idea for dinner!! Yeah!" He smiled nervously, hoping that'd work.

Luna eyed him skeptically, then laughed. "Alright, then, honey!" she said, standing up. "You can make it for us tonight!" She smiled and turned to go inside.

Benishirina watched her go inside, then stood up and went to some trees. Behind them, he dialed something onto his cell phone. "H-hello? Prof. Yamada? I've got this amazing discovery, but I'll only tell you IF you PROMISE not to let it slip..."

- - -

Later on that month, the bus taking people around Mt. Quena arrived. Luna and Benishirina waited for it, smiling. When it stopped, the bus driver smiled and leaned out. "Hey, I've got some great news!" she said.

"What?" Luna asked. She and Benishirina looked in askance.

The driver broke into a grin. "You're not going to have to be so lonely anymore, because now, we're going to be coming multiple times per month, like a normal bus!"

Luna and Benishirina both shot their eyes up in surprise. "Oh, my!" Luna said, putting a hand to her chest. "And why? Is it because more people want to get around the mountain now?"

The driver shook her head. "Nope, it's because they wanna come HERE!!" she answered, and as if on cue, a horde of people in lab coats came crashing out, trampling the two naturalists. "I've gotta get some more people here, good-bye!" the bus driver said, and closed the door to her now-empty bus and drove off.

When Luna and Benishirina got up, Luna gave her boyfriend such a look, it seemed as if she burned with fury. "Benishirina??"

The man gulped and sweat-dropped. "Y-y-yes, Luna?" he replied.

"Did you have something to do with this?" she asked.

Benishirina gulped, hesitated, then slowly nodded his head. "I called the most trustworthy scientist I knew...and I guess he couldn't stay shut about it..." he confessed.

Luna roared, "YOU IDIOT!! NOW THE SPRING'S GOING TO BE RUINED!!" She turned and stomped off, fumingly mad.

Benishirina reached after her. "But honey--!"

Luna gave him a whithering look over her shoulder. "I'm NOT your honey anymore," she said darkly, and continued off.

Benishirina stood shaking, feeling his heart freezing and then shattering into a million peices. "O...O..." In desperation, he screamed to the sky,

"OUENDAAAAAAN!!"

-----

The ouendan looked at each other and nodded. "Right, we've got work," Kioshi said. "Let's put our bickering off untill then, at least."

Suzu and Hibiki nodded. ""Right."" "But what song?" asked Hibiki, tilting his head down in thought.

Suzu shrugged. "I don't know any that would fit off the top of my head," she said. She turned to Kioshi. "Anything?"

Kioshi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well...maybe," he replied. "It's a bit of a stretch, but he DOES need to get his girlfriend to like him again, and so it may work for that, at least."

"What is it?" asked Hibiki. He and Suzu were told, and their eyebrows shot up. "THAT?? But...That's really a bit of a stretch, after all..."

"Can YOU think of anything better?" asked the Evening City ouendan, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, it's a nice song. And I know it's another anime one, but it's the best we've got."

The two other cheerleaders looked at each other, then finally nodded. "Let's go," Suzu said, and the three stood up and jumped out of the bushes.

Defend the Spring!! Can Both Relationships Be Saved?

Benishirina gawked at the scientists crowding around at the river. They were busilly taking samples and setting up machines that would take tests of the water on-site. "I've got to convince them to leave!!" Benishirina muttered, and ran over, waving his arms. "WAIT! WAIT! STOP! There's been a misunderstanding!!"

The scientists looked around at him in confusion. "But we were told that this water has immense medicinal properties," they said, "and that's right. So there's no misunderstanding." They turned back to their work.

Benishirina grabbed his hair, gibbering. "B-but...I...You..." He was starting to feel hopeless. Nobody seemed to notice the music that had started in the background.

Suddenly, he heard from behind him three voices cry, """OSU!!""" Instantly, his soul began aflame, and pure energy scorched out of him. He raised his arm in determination. "GOOOOOOOOOO!"

The young ouendan members slid into position. However, instead of coming from one side, they each entered from their home squad's respective side. This means that while Kioshi skidded in from what would be stage left, Suzu and Hibiki skidded in from stage right. The guitar began, and audiences around the world heard a unique, somewhat-yearning melody play out.

"""IKOIYA!! ...SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!!"""

Karamitsuku kaze ni sakarai

Ushinatta kisetsu wo sagashiteiru

Wazuka demo mezasu houkou e

Azayaka na kioku ga tsukiugokasu

As the second opening song for a show whose tone was dead-opposite that of the one they were in began, Benishirina began trying to convince the scientists they had to go. At first, he was seen fumbling for words, going slowly. Only a few scientists turned to look at him and listen. But then, his desire to stop them from contaminating the water with their huge crowd caused something to click in his mind, and words came streaming out of his mouth. He emphisized these words with energetic gestures. With the enthusiasm he was speaking with, all the scientists turned and listened. However, perhaps because of the suddeness of the situation, or the fact that they were hungry, the squad floundered for a split second. With that unpleasing drop in the cheering, Benishirina breifly fumbled greatly. He was left standing, a blank expression on his face as he muttered to himself, "THINK! THINK! THINK!!!" Meanwhile, the scientists were busy happilly examining the water. The ouendan got back on track, though, and was cheering their best again, filling Benishirina with more fuel than before.

After a while, Benishirina reached a conclusion. "...So, in closing," he began ending, standing with a finger up, "I asked the guy who told you all to keep quiet about it, he didn't, you're all here, and you could end up contaminating the water with your large numbers. To prevent any further damage to the environment of Mt. Quena, I would like to ask you to leave and tell nobody about here."

The scientists murmured amoungst each other. "But this is a medical marvel," said one, raising a beaker. "You can't ask us to keep quiet about something that could save countless lives!"

Benishirina winced. 'They have a point...' He tried something. "Well, think of it this way: If you tell somebody, more will come, the water will be tapped, contamination will occur, thousands of pokémon will lose their homes, and the spring will lose its restorative properties quite quickly, thus defeating the purpose." He looked at them, hoping that logic would work. No response. "You'd end up spending more than you'd make," he added a little nervously.

THIS worked. The whole crowd of well-educated people groaned and packed up, saying, "Then what's the point?" irratably. They stomped off, but that was exactly what Benishirina had aimed to do. He mopped his brow and breathed a sigh of releif. "That was close!" he muttered.

Behind him, in the house and watching through the window, was Luna. She watched, a small smile on her face.

O

How many cuts should I repeat?

How many fates should I accept?

Does it have an end?

A breif time later, however, the bus returned, the driver cheerilly dumping off a HUGE crowd of tourists. They were dressed up as if about to go swimming. Benishirina looked in horror at these new arrivals. They rushed past, and he cried, "NO! I can't let them just go in! But they probably won't listen..." He gazed along the river's course, into the forested section. He thought for a second. "Perhaps convincing bug pokémon to come with and scare them off would work, but..." he muttered, trailing off at the uncertainty.

"""OSU!!"""

Again, the naturalist burned with motivation, and he dashed into a canoe.

Itsumo karadajuu wo

Kimi ga kakemeguri afuresou

Dakara kowakunai yo asu mo

Because I always feel you in me

As the wonderful chorus began and the ouendan hoped that what they were doing would be good enough, Benishirina began paddling at top speed, a burning desire to stop people from ignorantly causing damage to the ecosystem fueling him along. A wake of speed-boat caliber trailed behind him, and the forest blurred by. But then, the bluendan showed that their version of cheering was slightly different from Kioshi's, and as a result, the naturalist got tired and slowed to a normal pace. You could see a few wild bug pokémon on the trees in the background. Then, Benishirina lost his focus for a second, thanks in part to further discord amoung the squad, and ended up angering some beedrill and going top-speed the other way(much like the "Material Girl" stage from EBA's second section in a way). However, Kioshi said, "Enough clowning!!" very firmly, and the three cooperated again. Benishirina lost the beedrill through pure determination and turned back around, going the same speed as he had when fleeing, if not faster.

After a time, he found some spinarak, venomoth, aridos, and more beedrill(though he was much more careful to not upset them this time), frightening and/or unsettling bug pokémon indeed. He called, "There're some tourists here who are making your water dirty and messing up your home!! Come on, you need to scare them away!!"

The bug pokémon looked at each other. Benishirina began to paddle back, then looked over his shoulder. He gasped when he saw that the pokémon were following. "Do you all believe me?" he asked hopefully. The pokémon nodded intelligently, and the human grinned in joy. "Thank you so much!" he said, bowing like so as well he could from his boat, then the group dashed off.

O

Kawakikitta nodo e nagashita

Kimi no na de kokoro wo urushiteku

Benishirina came back to the hut, where the people were busy bathing indulgently. Luna was busy trying to convince them to leave, telling them that this was part of a pokémon ecosystem. However, nobody was listening. "Time to teach them a lesson!" the male naturalist told the pokémon. He rowed over, the bugs following, and announced, "I hope that you DO realize that you're swiming in bug-infested waters, don't you?" Luna looked over at him in surprise.

Everyone made a sound of displeasure of some sort, but not all of them got out. A few even swam to shore and grabbed some pokéballs. "Yeah, you just want this place all to yourselves!" they said, and sent out their pokémon. "If we win, we can stay. If you win, we'll leave and not say a word, like that green-haired girl says!"

Benishirina gaped. "WHAT? I'm not that much of a battler, and these aren't MY pokémon; they're wild!" he protested.

The trainers ignored him and sicced their teams on him anyway.

"""OSU!!"""

Determination filled the fire that ignited the naturalist again. With renewed gusto, he took his chances and tried commanding the wild pokémon.

How many cuts should I repeat?

How many fates should I accept?

Does it have an end?

Haruka ano tori no you

Sora wo tobikoete yuketara

Itsumo tsutaetai you ai wo

Because I always feel you in me

You taught me how to love

I feel I can do anything

While the ouendan got into their longest cheering segment, Benishirina began giving orders. When he was beginning, he was frantically pointing and shouting, the pokémon following his orders after a little while and barely deflecting the enemy's attack. He was a little nervous, seeing as his girlfriend was watching, with an unimpressed look on her face. However, it appeared that the ouendan had finally gotten it together and were truly feeling the groove. As a result, Benishirina, not wanting to fail in front of Luna, nor wanting to let these guys stay and ruin the river, got a handle on his own situation and was ordering with precision and pointing with firmness. When he did, one of the bug pokémon unleashed an attack that blew back one of the trainers' pokémon into the trainer. As soon as one was down, another would come up. When he got into his own groove, it was noticed that Luna had an impressed smile on her face.

Then, it came to the point where three trainers were left. "Alright," one said, "this is IT! It's time to blow you away!!" They sent out a flying type or a flying-fire type. One of them even sent out a charizard!! (The latter was unnerved by the fact he/she was above water at the moment.) Also, a staraptor and a frikkin' GYRADOS were sent out(it's part flying, remember?). The three trainers pointed at their respective pokémon.

"OVERHEAT!!"

"SKY ATTACK!!"

"HYPER BEAM!!"

Benishirina sweat-dropped, as did the bug pokémon. "AAAAUGH!! NONONONO--" He smacked himself. "CALM DOWN AND FOCUS!" he roared to himself, then pointed and ordered, "EVERYONE!! DODGE THE ATTACKS AND USE EVERY SIGNAL BEAM, FURY CUTTER, MEGAHORN, TWINNEEDLE, WHATEVER YOU'VE GOT!!"

Every pokémon swarmed out of the way of the twin beams of energy and fire, which surrounded a glowing, dive-bombing staraptor. The attacks missed, and the pokémon all rushed forth to the two who were now weakened and used their best attacks. (The staraptor was hit by the bugs in the rear of the swarm) An enormous explosion occured, and everyone in the river was blasted off, a la Team Rocket.

"OKAY, OKAY, YOU WIIIIiiiinn..." screamed some of the tourists as they flew off into the distance, their pokémon with them.

Benishirina gaped in awe. "Amazing..." He grinned and looked at all the bug pokémon. "Thank you SO much, everyone!! Now your river isn't filled with filthy bodies anymore!" he chirped. The pokémon all made happy sounds, then went back home. "See ya!!" the naturalist called after them, waving from his canoe. Behind him, Luna beamed at him.

O

The bus came back again, and this time, it brought a second batch of scientists. Benishirina groaned at this. "Oh, no, not MORE!!" he wailed.

The ouendan looked at each other an nodded. "Here we go!" Kioshi said, and the three did one last """OSU!!"""

The flames returned once more, and again, Benishirina set about convincing the scientists to leave.

Yume ni egaku sekai wo

Kimi no me no mae ni hirogetai

Dakara kowakunai yo asu mo

My beloved season calls me

Because I always feel you in me

The bus came one last time, empty now. Benishirina bustled the scientists off into it, but then one grabbed his shoulder. He jumped and turned around to face an old, grey-haired man in his 80s, at least. Benishirina gasped. "Prof. Yamada!!"

Yamada smiled a little listfully. "I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble, young Benishirina," he appologized, voice creaky like an old wood floor from age. "It's just that I got so excited, I couldn't help but tell a select group of scientists...which, I learned, told another group. Who knows what else happened?" He chuckled, then looked at the younger and answeered himself, "Oh, you."

Benishirina smiled and shook his head. "No, nothing at all happened," he lied. "But...please, don't do that again."

Yamada smiled and nodded, then looked longingly at the stream. "But...so many lives could be saved..." he muttered.

Benishirina frowned. "I know, Professor, but..." He waved his arm to the forest by the stream. "The pokémon here need it to survive. Mt. Quena has a powerful secret, but one that, sadly, must be left alone." He smiled and looked at the senior scientist. "I'm certain that we'll be able to find out a perfect synthetic duplicate to Purity Canyon springwater," he assured him.

The scientist smiled and nodded. "That we may," he said, and went onto the bus.

"Bad news, sugar," the bus driver said as she was about to go.

"What, back to the once-a-month?" asked Benishirina, smiling.

She nodded, sadly. "Yeah...This means I'm not gonna get all the pay I was hopin' for..." She sighed and closed shut the doors and drove off, Benishirina laughing silently.

Finally alone, Benishirina breathed in and sighed out the fresh air. "Crisis averted," he muttered, happilly, but his smile drooped. "Or...is it?"

He turned and saw Luna standing there, hands behind her back and a sheepish smile on her face. "Benishirina..." she mumbled, looking up and blushing. "I'm sorry for reacting like that...You...didn't have to do what we thought was the impossible...I..." She clammed up, then, a little embarressed at the situation.

Benishirina gently put his hands on her shoulders after hesitating. "I did it to save Mt. Quena," he told her, smiling. "Really."

Luna sniggered. "You did it because you wanted me back, admit it," she teased. This made him blush and her laugh. "Well, don't worry about that," she told him, and drew closer. "You pulled that off unlike anyone else could."

Benishirina gulped and smiled weakly. "Really?" he asked.

Luna took his hand. "In spades..." She smiled at him. "...Honey."

Benishirina gasped, unbeleivable joy in his heart causing him to smile hugely. "Oh, Luna!" They hugged tightly, standing at the bus stop. "I'm so glad I got you back! I've got you again, the mountain's ecosystem is safe..." He laughed. "I wonder what karma's gonna pull out of its hat on THIS," he half-joked.

Luna smiled and pulled something from behind her back after they separated. "This?" she suggested, holding up a brocure.

Benishirina gasped and took it. "Are we...Are we really going all the way to Hotel Gorgeous in Sinnoh?!" he asked incredulously.

Luna grinned. "Hey, after being the hero, it's the least reward you could have," she said.

Benishirina, with watery eyes, just smiled and cried, "Oh, Luna!!" again before hugging her.

They could, that night, be seen sitting side-by-side on the edge of the stream, looking up at the stars. In the background, the lights of the bug pokémon could be seen. Benishirina had a relaxed, happy look on his face and an arm around his girl.

Of course, before then, the ouendan had seen them hugging. They nodded to each other and went a ways off behind some bushes. Once there, they finished out.

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

The three nodded, then sat down and rested. "Oooohh, MAAN, that was tough," said Kioshi.

Suzu looked at him with an anger-vein. "YOU suggested the song!" she pointed out. "Thanks a lot! Now we're hungry and tired and have nowhere to go, nothing to spend..." She sighed aggrivatedly. "Why, oh, why, did I HAVE to jump into that television to help you?" she asked nobody.

"Because you knew it was the right thing to do," Hibiki answered. "Same for me. There was no time to question, only time to act. And if one acts on their heart's decision, they end up doing the right thing much of the time." He nodded. "Although, I DO agree that we should blame Kioshi on this one..." he added, closing his eyes and crossing his arms.

Kioshi sighed, giving up. "Okay, okay, look, sorry for the weird song choice, but..." His face brightened hopefully. "At least it was a good song, wasn't it?"

Suzu and Hibiki thought for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, you're right," Suzu said. "At least we had fun in the last parts. It took a little, but we could do it. And without practicing much, either!" she added, pointing to him.

"I especially like how we pulled together after we had some issues from our two different styles conflicting worse than just throwing out our arms differently," Hibiki stated. "It's a sign of good progress."

"Yeah," Kioshi said, smiling a little weakly. "Thanks, you two, thank you so much." He bowed deeply in his thanks. "I couldn't've done it without you two."

The blue-clad ouendan smiled at each other, then nodded to him. "And neither could we without you," Suzu said. "We're your backups; you're the leader. And you do a pretty damn good job of it, too," she commented.

Kioshi blushed and looked away. "Aw, thanks, but..."

The moment was interrupted by everyone's stomach whining for food. The three froze as their bodies groaned, then made their own groans and looked at their middles. "But we need food," Hibiki finished.

Kioshi sighed. "Now I know even more how Team Rocket feels...Poor guys..." He looked into the distance, into space. "You know, I've always hated how, whenever they're doing honest work, the damn producers make them blow it. If we ever get to meet them doing honest work for once, I wanna help them out. I think they really deserve it for all the crud they've gone through until now. Well, the crud that really is just unfair, not saying I WANT them to catch Pikachu," he added hastilly, sweat-dropping. He sighed. "But yeah...that's just me."

The other two shrugged. Suzu said, "Well, let's find a way to get some grub, huh?" She stood up and looked around. "Aren't there supposed to be tons of berry trees around here?" she asked.

"Berry trees are everywhere in the third- and fourth-gen series," Hibiki reminded, standing as well. "There are some here, but not as much..."

"Ugh...then what are we to do?" asked Kioshi, standing up as well.

"Stay with those two?" suggested Hibiki.

"I'd rather not," Suzu said. Kioshi nodded, agreeing. "Man...if only we had some way to at least make money, then we could walk to the nearest town and grab some food. Not even the Centers are free, though they do give people a place to sleep the night."

"Correction: Trainers, remember?" Kioshi said, holding up a finger. "The first Center we went into, Nurse Joy said that to us. Ouendan aren't trainers, unless we have all the junk that we'd have no use for in our world." He looked into the distance a little. "Though, it WOULD be cool to have a pokémon, at least one that travels with as a friend..." he muttered.

He was staring off into space, wondering how life would be were he to have a pokémon, when he heard Suzu and Hibiki gasp. "What?" he asked, shaking his head and focusing back on them. They were wearing gaping mouthes and pointing to a place behind and below him. He turned and looked down--then stopped solid-still.

A little, light-blue scaled, fin-eared snakelike creature stared back up at him, blinking big, shiny, black eyes and displaying a white underside. It appeared to be no more than a couple feet long. "Ti?" it squeaked, tilting its head.

Kioshi gaped. "A...a dratini..." he whispered, and bent down VERY SLOWLY. The little creature looked him in the eye as he got to its level. "What would one of you guys be doing around here?" he whispered to it.

The dratini tilted its head the other way and just squeaked, "Ni!" and nudged him cutely on the knee, closing its eyes in the way that any anime viewer knew meant that it was happy.

Kioshi gasped and looked in surprise at it. "H-hey, that...well...ah..." He blinked, thinking furiously. Finally, he dared ask, "Do...Do you want to come with me...?"

The dratini sprang its eyes open and bounced up and down--well, bobbed its head and upper body up and down enthusiastically. "Tini! Tini!!" it squeaked.

Kioshi just widened his eyes and slowly turned his head to the other two, shared in a group shrug, and turned back, smiling. "Well, ah, sure! But...we don't have any food for you..." This was emphisized by a gurgling in his stomach, which caused him to blush.

The dratini cocked its head at the noise. "Ni?" It looked up and down at the three, then turned and started to slither away. It stopped a few feet off and turned its head. "Dra! Tini!" it squeaked out, twitching its head forward, then began to slither off.

Kioshi rose up and looked at the other two. "I think it wants us to follow it," he said, amazed, and the three, with no better lead to food, did so. The tiny, ultra-rare pokémon led them along the forest, around trees and across breif stretches of grassy parts. Finally, to the three's surprise and delight, it led them to a patch of trees bearing pink, heart-shaped fruits. "Pecha berries!" Kioshi exclaimed when he reached up and picked one. "I can't believe it! I thought they didn't grow here!"

"They usually don't, unless you plant them," said a female voice.

The three froze, red-handed, and turned to find a youngish woman with a wide-brimmed straw hat, blue overalls, a white long sleeve underneath, brown boots, and soft pink gardening gloves walking towards them, wearing an amused expression on her round face. She winked a brown eye. "Don't worry, you three," she said, waving a hand, "go ahead and have some if you want. I won't charge a single Pokédollar!" She smiled sweetly. Her dark, long hair trailing from the hat fluttered in the breeze.

Kioshi looked at his comrades. "Well, what's to lose?" he asked, and the three proceeded to pick themselves each an armful of berries--not just Pecha, but Oran and Sitrus as well. When they had a full two arms of fruit, they sat down underneath a large, shady oak and proceeded to eat with gusto.

The woman sweatdropped as she saw them eat so. "Well, uh, it looks like you guys needed it," she commented nervously, and laughed like so.

The three looked at her with an expression that read, "You have NO idea," then went back to eating.

The woman smiled and waited patiently for them to at least slow down. When they did, she walked over and sat so that she was talking to all of them. "My name is Linda," she introduced herself. "I'm from the Hoenn reigon, though my parents were both American; hense the name and horrible accent," she explained, blushing slightly.

Suzu gulped down her mouthful and shook her head. "No, no, no," she insisted, "your accent is just fine. But I just take it you're bilingual, then, since you would have had to've gotten used to English before Japanese to develop your accent...?"

Linda nodded, smiling. "Yes, I'm skilled in both English and Japanese," she confirmed. "My teachers always were amazed I could grasp both so easilly. Although, let me tell you," she added, looking like she had just been through an unhappy job, "it wasn't as easy as they thought." They shared a small laugh, when suddenly, the dratini popped up behind her and squeaked, surprising the ouendan(especially Kioshi). Linda smiled and looked at the little dragon-type. "Ah, yes, I almost forgot about our little friend here," she said, and held her hand up. The pokémon went onto it, and she carried it to Kioshi, where it happilly slithered out of her hand and onto his lap.

Kioshi blushed as he looked down at it. "Er, hello," he muttered akwardly.

"Dra!" the dratini squeaked back, then nuzzled his body.

Kioshi looked nervously at Linda. "Is this dratini yours, Ms. Linda?" he asked.

Linda smiled and shook her head. "No, she isn't," she replied. "She's wild, and she came to my hut one stormy evening. She was bruised and hurt, and was even smaller than she is now." The woman leaned back a little and propped her hands behind her as she looked through the branches of the grand tree shading them into the sky. A small smile was on her face. "I took her in and fed her, cared for her injuries, and generally nursed her back to health. I let her go after I thought she was ready, but she basically hangs out around here." She looked at the cheerleaders again, who had finished eating(except Hibiki; he always was the last to finish eating, saying "he liked to savor the flavor"). "As for you three, I've got to give you a hand, because you did marvelously down there! I saw you guys because my house overlooks that part down there. I didn't see what went on inside the forest, but I saw you help that naturalist deal with the scientists and the stupid tourists."

The three nodded and looked serious, humble. "It's our duty, Ms. Linda," said Kioshi.

"Whenever someone of a good heart cries for our help..." Suzu began.

"...we do our best to cheer them on and grant them the energy to achieve whatever it is they need," finished Hibiki.

Linda chuckled and smiled, sitting straight again. "That's very noble," she said. "I've, to tell the truth, never actually seen Japanese cheerleading for real. I've heard of it, and seen clips on tv sometimes on movies and stuff, but never really seen it." She blushed as the three raised an eyebrow in unison. "I know, I know," she sighed, "I should've seen at least ONE performance in my days of school in the Hoenn reigon, but I don't really do sports, myself." She breathed deeply outwards, looking around her in contentment. "Living with nature is enough for me."

Hibiki nodded. "That is good that you should be happy with how you are living," he commented.

Linda nodded, smiling broadly. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy here," she agreed, then blushed. "Too bad you don't see any hot guys around this neck of the woods," she lamented brightly.

Suzu especially laughed as the four chuckled at both her complaint and her bad joke. "I can believe it!" she agreed.

Linda nodded, then sighed. "But anyway, I was surprised when little Ms. Dratini just squeaked and slithered off top-speed to you guys after you were done with that interesting choice of song. Honestly, Hyde's 'Season's Call?' Blood+'s second season's theme song? Unique, to say the least. I liked it." She nodded intriguedly, crossing her arms so.

Kioshi blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Well, it was my idea, though it may not have been the best," he confessed. "I personally think it probably wasn't the best choice, at least given our hungry state. We could've done better were we more focused on the cheering and not focused on how hungry and tired we were." He sighed and leaned back onto the tree.

Linda sighed and nodded. Shrugging, she said, "Yeah, oh well, doesn't matter now, anyway. You guys helped out Benishirina. I saw the whole thing before you guys got there," she explained. "Boy, poor guy, almost losing his girlfriend like that. I didn't need to hear what was said to understand that, as a naturalist, Beni needed to save the ecosystem of Mt. Quena, and, as a person, make it up to Luna for messing things up. Luna, wow, sweet girl, great neighbor; he's really lucky." She sighed. "But I digress. Anyway, then, I wondered why our dratini friend ran off after you guys were finished and got worried. Then, a few minutes later, she came back, looking like she'd been...well, you know," she mumbled, blushing, "trailing you guys. Letting you have some food is the least I could do for doing such a great job down there." She smiled and half-bowed while sitting.

Kioshi and the other two shook their heads humbly. "Duty is duty, and shouldn't have to be paid for," he disclaimed.

Linda smiled slyly. "Then you have some money to pay for my berries?" she asked slickly. The ouendan froze for a second, and she laughed. "Then accept this as, at least, a gift," she told them. "When you see a peice of change lying around on the ground in the middle of nowhere, you take it. Be thankful for the little things in life, 'cuz they can be few and far between." She nodded at her little bit of advice, then sighed again. "Off topic again!" She shook her head and laughed. "I'm sorry, I've got ADD, I get off things real easy," she confesed. "But anyway, then, let me continue: It appears, from the way she went off to you and the way she's snuggling with you right now, uhm..." She hung for a name. Kioshi gave it. "Kioshi, thanks, it appears that from those things that she wants to be friends with you guys, or at least you, Kioshi," she finished. She pointed at him.

Kioshi blushed a little. "Oh? Well, ah, hmmm..." He sweatdropped, looking down at the dratini. She squeaked gleefully. He smiled weakly. "This is kinda akward and a shock, since I had been yearning for a pokémon friend of my own when she came to me," he explained, giving a sorry shrug. "Sorry if I'm seeming ungrateful for her or anything."

Linda smiled and shook her head. "I've got no say in this whatsoever," she said. "Remember, she's wild, not mine. Although...I wonder if she wants you to battle and capture her, like a normal pokémon? Sometimes wild pokémon that want to join trainers do that." She looked at them for a bit. "But you guys don't have any pokémon, do you?"

They shook their heads. "This would be the first that would come travel with us," Hibiki said.

"So...Dratini, you wanna go with us cuz you like cheerleading, or do you think Kioshi's hot or something?" Suzu asked of the pokémon.

The dratini blushed furiously and sweatdropped, then looked sheepish, squeaking very quietly. This caused a few laughs. "I guess it's the latter!" Linda decided. Kioshi blushed even further. "Oh, poor Kioshi, things just got from surprise-akward to beasty-akward!" she said, a little genuine sympathy in her voice. This caused more laughter.

Kioshi's face looked like a beet now. "P-p-please," he stammered. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. His blush faded considerably when he opened his eyes again. "Well, uh, I'd be honored if you'd like to come with us, Dratini," he said, looking at the pokémon.

Dratini gasped a cute little gasp and squealed in joy. She wrapped herself around him in as best a hug as she could.

Kioshi smiled weakly. "Wow...this feels...kinda weird..." he mumbled. "Er...you don't want me to battle you first, do you?" he asked, hope catching in his chest. If she wanted to battle, he was SOL, and there'd be no going with a pokémon friend after all.

Dratini blinked and gave him a look that was so obviously saying, "Are you out of your mind?" that it made him laugh. She shook her head once and said, "Ti!"

Kioshi smiled and, a little hesitantly, put his hand on her head, gently. "Then welcome to the ouendan, Dratini," he said.

"You guys take care, now!" called Linda as she waved goodbye to them in the setting sun's rays. The ouendan were walking from her orchard, carrying bags with blankets and a few other supplies that Linda gave to them. She also was extremely kind and gave them a bit of money. "And Kioshi, take good care of Dratini!!"

The three looked back over their shoulders and waved, and Kioshi, looking over the shoulder opposite the one Dratini rode on, called back, "Don't worry, I will!"

"Come back sometime, alright?" Linda asked, shouting now since they were far.

"""We will!! Thank you very much, Ms. Linda!! Goodbye!""" the ouendan called back in unison, and left as she returned the farewell.

When they were out of her earshot, Hibiki and Suzu gave Kioshi a look. Kioshi sighed and looked down. "It's just that...it's weird to have a creature that you thought was complete fiction end up liking you and riding on your shoulder, that's all," he explained softly, looking sheepish. "You'd feel the same way, admit it."

The Morning City ouendan nodded. "Don't worry about it too much, though, Kioshi," Hibiki said, smiling. "You get to do something any kid in Japan would die to do, and that's to be a trainer...sort of."

Kioshi smiled sadly. "Yes, you're right, Hibiki," he said, then looked at him. "But what about when we get back home?"

This left them silent as they walked off, making CERTAIN that the setting sun was to their LEFT, towards where they hoped would be Sinnoh.

// (4)\

( ( / (6) ( )\

\\ \ \

\ \ \ \ (5)( )

\(3) ( ) (7) \

(2) \\

(1) \ ( )

((I-tsu)-mo ka-ra-da-ju-u wo-oh)

( 1 2 3- ()4- () 5- () 6- ()7- ())

Ack...sorry for the crappy chart with not-really-exact phrase dots this time; this chart was done a while after I wrote the actual song part. And boy, was the song difficult to consider! But I first wrote this part with the song...well, I won't say, in mind, but I then realized it wouldn't really work. Then I listened to Season's Call again, and thought, "Okay, it's a stretch, but it might work." I think it might've done fairly well. What do YOU think?

And I wondered who would get the pokémon, and which pokémon. I considered scyther--bug place--and mew--he's seen in the spring in Mewtwo Returns, so he might've been there. But I was looking at my Pokémon poster above my desk, which has all the 1st gens on there(1-151), and just chose dratini just 'cuz, I guess. Sorry if it seemed Kioshi felt something furry-like when he was blushing and stuff with dratini, I HONESTLY had him do that because it was weird looking at a fantasy creature up close like that for him! I MEAN IT!! ;; Well, anyway, hope you enjoied this long one!! (Um...Luna and Cullen/Benishirina (funniest J. name for a guy I've ever heard) are bf/gf, right?)


	11. X: : : Meeting at EBA Central : : :X

(11)( ) (A) (Team) (Meeting)

Cheiftan walked through the door into the meeting room. Around the large, round, metallically-painted table sat his fellow agents and the Divas. At the end directly opposite the door was Commander Kahn. Cheiftan went around to sit between him and J and waited along with everyone else.

A minute passed with nobody saying anything. Then Spin looked up at the clock, frowned, and commented, "Okay, I know they got jet lag or somethin', but you'd think those guys'd be a little punctual, y'know?"

Missy frowned, too, and nodded. "Yeah, they're always where they need to be when people call them," she said, "so why aren't they here when WE need them?"

"Maybe it's because we need them in a different way," suggested Cheiftan, leaning back in his chair a little while looking at the two now second-youngest members of the agency with a little impatience. "They'll be here when they get here. Don't worry, alright?"

Missy and Spin frowned, though, and sat back to wait a little more. Everyone waited, and waited, and waited. They soon began to get a bit antsilly bored and started to "fidget." Spin began playing with his headphones a little, Missy adjusted her hat, Starr boredly drummed her fingers on the table, Foxx checked her e-mail, J fiddled with some settings on his badge, Derek and Morris adjusted their afroes(though it really was pointless in Morris' case, since he always wore a hat and hid it anyway), and even Cheiftan occupied himself by sliding his neck thing up and down a little. Only Commander Kahn sat perfectly still, sitting in his usual pose: elbows acting as a stand for his head to rest on top of, folded hands acting as a sort of cushion.

Finally, ten minutes after Cheiftan had entered the room(which had been occupied for 5 minutes more before), footsteps were heard outside the door. Everyone moved in their chairs as they hurried to stop whatever they were doing and turned to the door, though Kahn simply remained still. The door slid open and revealed a group of eight people, six of which were dressed in black gakuran uniforms. The other three wore western-style cheerleader outfits.

"Greetings, Ouendan," Commander Kahn said, lifting his head slightly off his hands so as not to make his head bob up and down while moving his jaw.

Kai bowed, the other seven following suit. "The same to you, Agents and Divas," he returned in English.

"Please take a seat," Kahn asked, and the Ouendan did so. Kai sat directly opposite from Kahn. Likewise, nearly everyone else sat opposite their equal: Hajime sat across from Spin, Ryuta from J, and the three cheer girls from their counterparts. One seat remained empty, the one facing Cheiftan(who felt a tiny bit left out).

Kai folded his arms. "Now, then, Kahn," he said gruffly, "we have flown from Japan all the way to your country. You mentioned over the phone about the situation regarding the anime?" He raised an eyebrow.

Kahn nodded. "Yes, Doumeki-san," he affirmed. "I've called you all here to discuss something with the both of you." He rose and turned, clapping his hands. The lights went out, and a moment later, a quiet whirring noise was heard. A moment after that, an image appeared on a screen that had lowered down. The excess light illuminated Kahn, revealing him to be holding a small rod-like remote. On the screen was an image of the current logos for both nationalities' versions of the Pokémon anime.

"As we all know, there is a show originating in Japan known worldwide as Pokémon," he began. "In Japan, it is also known as Pocket Monsters. Recently, an unplanned episode aired on television in both America and Japan, following after the last Japanese episode as evidenced by the party's current teams." He clicked a button and the screen showed the point in the episode that the newest Agents had entered before the time they did so. No sound played. "It was around this point in the episode that our newest team of Agents, Agents Lock, Meyers, and Hunter, discovered their televisions emitting a portal that they used to enter and attend to the main character, Ash Ketcham or Satoshi, when he unarguably called for help the same way our normal targets do." The screen showed Team Rocket capturing everyone and their pokémon. Kahn waited for the scene to play out for a bit, then, when Ash was being lowered in the elevator containing his cage, unmuted it.

At just that time, Ash let out his cry for help. After it was done echoing, Kahn paused the video. The people in the room who had not seen that episode widened their eyes in surprise at the unquestionable intensity in his voice. "Wow, I never would have gessed Satoshi-san would give up that easy," muttered Aoi in Japanese.

"Remember, he was without help from anyone," reminded Kahn, who understood Japanese quite well after taking two years in college for it, "and it also appears that, upon further investigation of the scenery of the episode, there was something else causing him to feel so." Kahn pressed another button, and the tape rewound to a point earlier, when Ash was first put in the room. It paused after a few moments. A box appeared onscreen and closed around a certain spot just in the corner of the room. It zoomed in on it and the image changed its resolution to give a clear image. When it was sharp again, Kahn produced a pointer from the remote and pointed to a spot. "Here, during what would be a single frame of animation, it is breifly seen that something is amiss," he continued. "Can you see what it is?"

A few moments passed, then J raised his hand. "A bit of that area is discolored," he answered.

"Correct," Kahn nodded, and tapped the spot. Indeed, in a corner of the room, a small blotch of slightly-discolored surface was seen. "Through our high-tech scanning systems that work on normal real-life footage, we have deduced that this is an unnatural force." The image flipped through different filters until settling on an infrared filter. The spot glowed red underneath it while all else was black. "Now, only recently have we decided to try this," Kahn said, holding the pointer in his other. "We did after young Missy decided to catch an episode of Pokémon Sunday, or Chronicles here."

Another click, and it showed image feed from Missy's television. The Ash's Charizard episode was seen beginning. Kahn pointed to the brown-haired Diva. "I belive that I should allow her to recount for us on her own," he said, and stepped aside.

Missy nodded and stood up. She strode to the screen and cleared her throat. "Well, um," she began, "I was just watching the episode, when Charizard began to have things happen to him." At this, Kahn clicked again and images of the things that befell the fire-type slide-showed onscreen. Missy gulped a little, nervous when talking publically despite being a performer, and continued, "Well, at first, it looked like it was just a normal plot, but then, when I saw Charizard fall to the ground and struggle to get up, I had this nagging thought in the back of my skull that this didn't seem right." She pointed to Charizard in an image where he was on the ground after getting shot down by the poachers. "Something in his expression just told me that he wasn't feeling right, and I don't mean in terms of his body," she said, eyes looking concerned. "If you don't watch the show a lot, you wouldn't know how famously proud Charizard is, and how he doesn't give up, no more than his trainer, Ash. This seemed unnatural for him. I suddenly realized that the entire situation was too absurdly one-sided, and that there was just too much going on to be normal. Then, Charizard actually said something real, not translated from his roars..." She waited, then Kahn clicked to Charizard's cry for the Ouendan.

Again, the intensity impressed those who hadn't seen the episode. Missy continued, gaining confidence since her own remembered concern had overrode her nerves, and pointed. "As soon as he said that, I knew that nothing was right here," she explained, adjusting her (sun)glasses. "He was just acting too out of character. Sure, he was pretty angry, but he'd never become so frustrated he'd cry out for help--he'd never do that; his pride wouldn't allow it. Then, I saw a portal pop up somewhere and one of your guys," she said, pointing to the Ouendan barely seen in the dark room, "drop down and go...what was it?..." She tried to remember.

Suddenly, all eight Ouendan members shouted, "OSU!!" at once, causing almost everyone to be knocked off balance in surprise. Missy fell back against the wall.

She gasped and put a hand to her chest, got off the wall, and nodded, saying, "Yeah...that's it...Yow, that scared the bezubus outta me..." She gave an admonishing look to the Japanese cheerleaders. "But anyway, he said that, and so Charizard basically did what our targets do when we cheer for them, while some Japanese song was playing...Sounded familiar. But anyway, not until these two other guys, dressed in blue, came in did Charizard really get going. That's about it. But I guess the point is, I saw your guys come in and help Charizard along." She looked at Kahn questioningly and sat back down when he nodded.

Kahn stood. "Who are those two?" he asked as he did, turning to Kai.

"Two ex-Morning City Ouendan," answered the leader. "The name of our member is Matsumura Kioshi. Last name first," he added, remembering that we do it the other way around. "The two who came in after them came to our dojo that night seeking membership for their own reasons: Ishinomori Hibiki, the white-haired boy, wished to cheer with another his age, in other words Kioshi; and Baisotei Suzu, the girl whose face is half-hidden by her hair all the time, quit our former rival team because she did not wish to become a normal female cheerleader in the squad--meaning dressing in western fashion and cheering with different moves than the men. It's a tradition amoung us all, it seems," he commented, looking at the Divas. He raised an eyebrow. "Although, with much more different uniforms," he added, trying to hide his displeasure at the Divas' revealing costumes.

Starr blushed furiously. "Hey! These things are WAY cooler than what the Commander wanted to stick us with!" she protested. "He wanted us to wear suits, too, but ones with shirts that show our stomachs and...skirts..." She shuddered at the thought of the latter. "So I said, 'Look, these look stupid, we're gonna do things this way,' and we split off into the Divas. Sure, we get some looks by most people from our outfits and choice of moves, but it's what we do, and it works really well, so there." She crossed her arms and hmphed sulkilly as she sat back down.

"Easy, Starr," Foxx said softly, patting her shoulder.

Kahn cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he continued, and pointed to a spot on the screen. It had advanced to another place where the infrared found a red reading. It was just as Charizard was falling: the spot was behind a rock. "Here it is again. After Missy reported her suspiscions that something was wrong, we decided to check the episodes that have passed regarding our Agents, and, afterwards, all episodes, be they on our group or yours, Ouendan." He brought up a split-screen comparison of Ash's spot and Charizard's. "We have found only these two here so far," he said, "not counting something I wish to also reveal." He clicked, and the screen went to the episode that was now famous amoung otaku for being so intense for Pokémon.

"I was watching this episode," Kahn said, "and thinking, 'This is quite interesting. I wonder if the ghost is fake after all?' Then, my Agents came on the scene and cheered the werewolf on with a fun choice, The Faders' 'No Sleep Tonight.'" He let a little of the episode play at the point where the song was heard. "This episode is very important to everyone involved in this entire situation, including Ash and your Ouendan," Kahn said as the episode played out. "As a reveiw, I ask you sit through the episode as it plays through the song."

As it did, he pointed out certain things, narrating his own experience. At the first segment, he said, "Here, I thought it was just normal craziness for our missions. Also, it was highly dangerous for our Agents to risk contracting lycanthropy--I was releived that they brought the young man to his senses." Then the scene where said werewolf had to carry his friend on his back while he fled from will-o-whisps. "Here, I thought, 'Well, this doesn't look so bad, but they might be fakes.' I knew without a doubt that he was really a werewolf, but I was still skeptical about the ghosts, as I was about the weird old lady." Then, the scene where the giant ghost attacked and the from-then-on-infamous condiment line was said. "Them using salt made me think, 'That is pretty true, but it still might be a parlor trick.' However--" he paused for the line to play, "--the next scene confirmed my belief that this was real, not fake, ghosts that my Agents were encouraging the target to combat."

The fight with the weird lady ensued, and Kahn put on the filter. The lady glowed red, while some stray will-o-whisps glowed blue and the lycanthrope glowed green. "These unique signitures denote different levels of supernaturality," explained Kahn. "Green means that the subject is still alive, but has supernatural powers or a curse, or both in this case with his ability to harness moonlight into an energy weapon. Blue denotes standard spirits like ghosts and such. Red, though, means that it's beyond supernatural, perhaps even beyond demonic."

He reached to his spot and grabbed his glass of water he brought with him, then drank some. After setting it down, he continued, "While the woman was being beaten, I couldn't help but think, 'This is wrong; this shouldn't be working, should it?' This aroused my suspicions, and I set up a live filtering. What I saw was this."

The lady went down and away in the normal episode, but at the same time, with the filter on, the room could see a red mist floating away instead of disappearing. It soared off and away towards the bottom of the mountain. People raised their eyebrows at this.

Kahn fast-forwarded breifly to his part in the episode. While he did, he said, "This is what caused me to decide to warn my Agents. I was worried about Ash and friends." He let his voice play on the episode, then continued, "If anything serious happens to Ash, the entire world of the anime could be in jepraody, since if the main character dies unscriptedly, bad things could happen, such as the destruction of the entire fantasy world; an unexpected 'The End.'" He paused for it to sink in. "We were fortunate that the wolf figured out that the thing he fought still existed. Otherwise, it wouldnt've gone down and left everyone safe. Its weakness to salt, however, was very interesting, and the fact it did, indeed, destroy it--I checked with my filter--intruiged me." He folded his hands behind his back and stood for a moment as some video clips played, quickly displaying the story of the defeat of the strange demon. Afterwards, the screen went blank and went up. The light came on in the room again.

Kahn collapsed his pointer and put it into his pocket. "As you may know from that exciting episode," he said, "that malevolent being wished to destroy my Agents. I have a feeling that your Ouendan may in fact be next."

Kai nodded solemnly. "I suspect they are, since they have been accepted into the Pokémon world as well," he said. "On that note, I would like to point out the fact that it appears that our groups are connected: both voluntarilly entered the world, and both consist of prodigies. Although your Agents have been showcased far more than our Ouendan, both have done remarkably well, getting people out of highly unlikely binds. Although I have a feeling that your team reacted to that high school situation because of personal feelings, despite the fact that it really was time that school won something and they could have on their own if the group had any enthusiasm to do it."

Kahn nodded back. "True, that was more a side mission than a real mission, but it was what they wanted," Kahn explained. "I allow a certain degree of freedom with my Agents and Divas. Already, Lock and his friends have done two semi-voluntary missions: The 'Move Along' performance and a performance of 'Candyman' for, of course, a candy store owner, which they accomplished with flying colors before entering the Pokémon world. They were right there when they did that one." He shook his head. "But I digress; enough talking about my team's acheivements. And we cannot discuss yours, since that would be going off-topic even more.

"After speaking with our technical genius, Diva Foxx, I have confirmed an energy has been present during the cases regarding Ash and his Charizard that lowered the two's spirits and courage in a way that only the spirits of our Agents and your Ouendan could raise again," he said, nodding to the white-haired woman[who I think is the coolest of the three; Missy's alright, Starr is a bit too ditzy for me, but the fact that she's a dork and her general air has me liking Foxx more than the other two divas. That, and she doesn't look so extremely slutty when doing the slutty moves XD;; . "We also have a feeling that, agreeing with you, the Agents and Ouendan were singled out. For some reason, the new, young blood was targeted for the use of whatever that demon thing serves."

Kai nodded. "I sense that a sinister plot is underway," he gravely muttered. "One that aims to destroy both us and you, using the new ones somehow. I gather this from observation and from what that demon revealed." He frowned deeper. "I do not like it one bit."

"Nor do I," Kahn agreed. "That is why I called you here. I beleive that a plan should be worked between us. We should work together to keep an eye on our respective teams to observe anything bad happening to them. To do so, I am giving you, the Ouendan, each a special device that can turn your television screen into an infrared scanning device that will see if there's any paranormal phenomenon occuring." He opened a suitcase while he spoke and pulled out what appeared to be blocks with wires attatched to them, and a bundle of small remotes. "Simply attach the AV cables into your television and use the remote to switch between infrared and normal vision," he explained, and passed one out to each of the Japanese people in the room.

Hajime raised an eyebrow. "And you could not save us a lot of money and simply sent these overseas to us...why?" he asked flatly.

"I'm sure you've seen airport security as of late over here coming in," Kahn replied wryly. That answered his question. "Now, these devices are EXPENSIVE, and irreplacable unless you want to hop back over here and get another, so be sure to not lose them."

The cheerleaders nodded and put the items into a pocket of their uniform or, for the ladies, in a purse they each carried with them that also contained their pom-poms. "We shall observe and call in case we find anything odd," Kai promised.

"Thank you," Kahn said. "Now, I requested you purchase one-way trip tickets because I will provide transport back to your country for free, using our own means of travel. I would have done so both ways, but our blimp, which has the largest carrying capacity of our aircraft, was being used on a mission at that time; I appologize." He bowed appologetically.

The Ouendan nodded and made sounds of forgiveness. "Is this it? What could we do should we want to help our friends out?" asked Ryuta.

"We can do nothing," replied Kahn, "except contact our Agents over the badges. That's another thing: We have a feeling that we may be able to tear open a portal that will allow us to bring back our teams if we can understand how we are able to contact them over our badges' communicators. It would take a lot of explaining how, and even I have trouble understanding it. Foxx is currently working on it."

The Diva nodded at her name to confirm it. "I'm still in the middle of figuring things out," she updated, "but I'll find out how, just you wait."

"And for you Ouendan," Kahn continued, "since you have nothing like our badges to communicate with your team, you can only watch, and I'm sorry we don't have anything that could help alliviate that."

Kai snarled. "Oh, really?" he asked skeptically. "Give me one of those badges, just one for communication. Believe me, I will show you that I can communicate with my ouendan. As can anyone else," he added, "should they also each get a badge for communication."

Foxx raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me, Doumeki-san," she said, "but as the creator of the badges' communication feature, may I ask how you expect this to work? They don't have badges, so they wouldn't get another signal. It's like speaking into a walkie talkie but not having it directed to any other one."

Kai raised an eyebrow himself. "You say your badges can reach through planes and contact your Agents, correct?" he asked. The techie nodded. "The signal is a form of energy; am I also correct?" Another nod. "Then let me ask: How do you think that we Ouendan inspire our targets without assistance from your badges' technology?" He scanned the room for an answer.

Suddenly, Cheiftan had a brainblast. "You use your own actual spirits!" he answered, putting his hands on the table as everyone turned to him. "I think I get what you're thinking of doing. You will use the badges to try and access the world the kids are in, then use whatever trick you do to project your spiritual energy and connect with your team through a telepathic or emphatic link! At least, that's what I'm getting," he added.

Kai nodded, pleased. "Correct, ah..."

"Cheiftan. Agent Cheiftan. First EBA member and the best next to our Commander."

"...Cheiftan, thank you. You are correct in your assumption. I plan to attempt sending spiritual energy through the trans-world gap by letting it ride along the stream to the Agents' badges. I will first make sure I connected with one of my ouendan, then sever the original link. If my theory is correct, I should still be able to speak with my members while not holding any calls the Agents might need. Like trailing a rope behind you as you enter a doorway so that, even if it tries to close, it will stay open and let you stay in. Or maybe, for the technologically-minded, I should use a chatroom as an example. If you enter when someone else is inside, and everyone else leaves while you remain with one person, you can still chat to that person since the window is still open. Do you get what I mean?" he asked, looking around. A few nods, a few blank stares. He nodded. "Well, of course, the door might be able to snap the rope by shear force, like a pair of scissors works, so I may be cut out. But I will put as much strength as I can spare into keeping my 'rope' thick and sturdy, so that it will not falter!" he resolutely declared.

Kahn nodded. "Then you do that," he said. "Good idea. With the ability to contact your team, you will be able to warn them of things they may not know but that you do--of dramatic ironies. We have only done this once, but you may need to. With the Pokémon world in chaos as it is now, who knows if something good will keep your Ouendan safe; it was really by chance that they met that kind woman, Linda, who fed them after their last mission. Tell them I thought their choice of song was actually good for the situation--the references to nature and the theme of love fit quite well," he added.

The Ouendan stood up and nodded. "Will this be all?" asked Kai.

"Yes, Doumeki-san," Kahn answered.

"Then we shall leave now." Kai held a hand up to the objections by the younger members of his group. "Sightseeing can come sometime else," he told them, "but we are Ouendan, and we have as much duty as the Agents do. We must return home." He turned to Kahn. "Who shall drive us there?" he asked.

"Cheiftan is able to use all forms of transportation we have," Kahn said, holding a hand out to the burly Agent, "and I cannot do it because I've got to stay here to oversee missions."

Cheiftan rose, nodding. "I'd be honored to take our guests home," he said as he did.

"Good. Well, then, first let us get you some badges, then you will be off on your way," Kahn said. "And Agents, I will hand out your own infrared screeners later." He then looked at everyone and shouted, "DIS-MISSED!"

"YESSIR!" came the reply from all the Americans, and even a "HAI!" from the Japanese. They all filed out, but Kai lingered for a moment. "What troubles you, my friend?" he asked when the room was otherwise empty.

Kahn, who had sat down and rested his head on his hands, sighed. "This reminds me of the Rhombulan invasion," he said. "They wanted to destroy all music. It hurt me to see what they tried to do, and when my Agents seemed to fail their mission, I swear, I almost had a heart attack." He shuddered. "I have this sneaking suspicsion that music itself is threatened again, or maybe even the whole world. OUR world."

Kai shook his head. "I agree," he mumbled back. "I feel that something is coming, and that we are the first to be taken out of the way before it can arrive. Whatever is able to reach through worlds and depress the most courageous is a being to be reckoned with, indeed." He gave a rare smile. "But the best thing I found to do was to just not worry about it so entirely much. Keep a large eye upon it, to be certain, but do not stare at it too long, or your eyes will weep with agony. Look away and rest for a few moments, and you won't lose sleep."

Kahn gave a gruff chuckle. "Easy for you to say," he grumbled back dryly. "You have to keep your spirits up to help anyone in need, so you're bound to not be so worried all the time to conserve your strength. Me, on the other hand, can't use my spirit for squat, so I'm prone to worrying too much." He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "But then, well, I think I've seen and heard you being pretty on edge yourself, once or twice," he added.

Kai chuckled. "Oh, you and I both are getting old, that's all," he waved it off. "We're starting to let things get to us when they look bad, that's all. We just need to stop letting that happen, think young. Don't worry," he assured after a moment, "your Agents will be fine."

"As will your young prodigy," Kahn said back. "I can see he's got loads of talent, but not so much confidence. You saw how he didn't handle that Charizard mission as well as he could have when alone."

Kai sighed. He admitted, "Yes, Kioshi DOES lack self-confidence, and feels that he just doesn't have it in him to do as well as he does when with a team. I hope that he gets over that on his adventure." He smirked. "As for yours, I think he should watch out, else his head gets a bit big," he said. "Being able to boast about his job is starting to get to him."

Kahn growl-sighed, sinking his head a bit. "I know, and I'll let him know if nobody else does," he promised. "But now, go, your team is waiting for you."

Kai bowed. "Farewell for now, then, my friend," he bade, and left.

Kahn sat in the dark room, resting his head on his hands still. "Let's hope it's really 'for now,'" he muttered.

Wow, 9 pages?! CRAP! I was gonna include a song here! Sorry I bored y'all to death with this chappie!! ;; I was gonna do another Ouendan chappie, but...sigh Oh, well. Anyway, let's see the score right now...and songs done, as well as why they're famous(or what anime they're from if it's an anime song).

EBA: 6

Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue (Good song)

Christina Agulera - Candyman (Good song)

OK Go - Here It Goes Again (YouTube infamy; SSX On Tour)

The Faders - No Sleep Tonight (Veronica Mars, mostly)

Gwen Steffani ft. Akon - The Sweet Escape (Good song; WHOOO-HOO!! WHEEEE-OOOH!!)

The All-American Rejects - Move Along (Good song)

Ouendan: 3

FLOW - GO!! (Naruto, opening 4, I think)

??? - Taiyo no Mannaka he (Eureka 7, opening 2)

HYDE - Season's Call (Blood+, opening 2)

Whew, well, anyway, that's it for now. Wow, I just made a bunch of pages of comments(at least for my dA account release); ain't I a dumbfuck? XD;; More soon, since I SHOULD be getting a laptop soon and will be able to update there.


	12. All Star

(12)( ) (Nature) (vs.) (Man)

I sighed, walking along with the others and gazing up at the sky, which was getting a little cloudy. I had my fingers laced together behind my head, holding it. "Great, looks like things are going to get a little rough up ahead," I muttered, feeling a little drab.

Ash's mouth slanted uncertainly, looking at the clouds. "Yeah," he agreed. "I wonder if we're going to get rained on or something..."

Dawn frowned. "Aww, I don't wanna get wet," she whined. "My hair's gonna be messed up if I do, and it took a while to get it right this morning!"

Us boys who weren't used to a sister fussing about their hair sighed and shook our heads, holding up our hands. Brock decided to check the guide book. "...Looks like there's a Center up ahead we can duck into to see if it'll blow over," he said.

Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!" she said, and we laughed.

---

"WHAT?!" all six of us cried in unison.

Nurse Joy tilted her head, smiling weakly. "I'm sorry, but that's the truth. There looks like a few days' worth rain coming, and it's going to cover a great deal of Sinnoh. If you don't want to get wet, I advise you stay indoors." Her smile turned warm again. "You're always welcome to stay here!" she offered.

Our faces fell, and we finally hung our heads in defeat. "Thank you, Nurse Joy," we said together, downcast. The fact we'd have to stay for a pretty long time, sorta, depressed even Brock, who usually was ecstatic around Nurse Joy.

We went into two seperate rooms again to dump our stuff, then me and my other Agent friends went to join Ash and his friends in their room.

"Man, this bites," Ash said bluntly, crossing his arms. "I thought we were going so well...I was sure I'd have my next Gym battle by the end of the week!" He pouted and looked out the window. "Now we're gonna have to have to stay inside, doing nothing, for who KNOWS how long!"

Brock smirked and waggled a finger. "Well, Ash, you've just got to look at the silver lining on these clouds," he said. "I mean, hey, it's not SO bad. We get to stay for free in warm, dry beds, we can catch up on some rest, and..." He grinned, a gleam coming in his eye. "...keep our social skills sharp," he finished. He cleared his throat. "If you'll excuse me," he said, and left the room with a big smile.

We looked at each other, then sweatdropped and shook our heads. "That's Brock," I said. "The pimp that never gives up." This made them laugh a bit.

We went out to see if Croagunk would fix things. We saw Brock on his knees, spouting his usual poetic babble, and then began to hear something. Meyers frowned. "Hey, what's that..."

It sounded like a strange roaring sound. It came from outside. Ash, Dawn, and us Agents wandered over to the glass sliding doors and caught a glimpse at the paved road we'd begun to encounter a bit before the Center. The route intersected with a road going into a city a couple miles away, but one that had no Center, hense why we decided to stay here. We watched up the road, then raised our eyebrows as something came around the bend. It appeared to be a flock of skateboarders going at surprisingly high speed. They laughed and a few popped a flip trick. Nobody fell off when they did, something surprising for what looked like amatures. They were heading south.

Our attention was whipped back around when we heard a grunt as Croagunk gave Brock his Poison Jab. We saw the pokémon drag him off, sweatdropping, and apologized to Nurse Joy. "That's alright," she said, sweatdropping back. "He's very kind. He just offered to buy me dinner, but with the impending rain..." She sighed and shrugged.

Meyers asked, "Nurse Joy? Could you possibly've heard some skateboarders going down in front just now?" as we went over to her.

Joy raised her eyebrows. "No, but I daresay there were," she replied. "See, there's this...gang, practically, of boys who are very much into skateboarding, and they come from Concreel City, the city a couple miles up the road." She pointed to the northen end of the center, where the road led. "Those boys enjoy skating around here, which worries me a little." She frowned and put a finger to her mouth. "There's a small group of Snorlax nearby here that are relatively light eaters. They stay here because of the berry trees that flourish around this Center that bear scads of fruit. They're generally peaceful, but lately, I've noticed that they've been a bit cranky, the older ones especially. It's been happening since those boys began skating over here." She frowned and looked out the window. "I'm afraid that they're working the poor pokémon up over there. I wonder if it's because the flat surfaces of the cave system they stay in may appear perfect to use as a natural skatepark."

We all raised our eyebrows. "If they're using it like one, then they're probably waking the Snorlax up and annoying them," Ash reasoned. "Snorlax hate being woken up; believe me, I know, I had one for a while before I gave it to Professor Oak since I couldn't feed it enough." He lowered his eyebrows. "Those kids should know to stop. It's disrupting their lives."

"But, with the rain coming, I don't think we'd be smart trying to reason with them now, when they can't possibly be going around," Hunter reasoned. "They might forget about it while it keeps raining."

Ash sighed, nodding. "Yeah, but it sounds like it's going pretty bad for those poor pokémon," he mumbled.

"I'm especially worried about one specific one," Joy said. We looked at her again. She frowned. "There's one that looks like it's been pushed around lately, but by humans or pokémon I don't know. Personally, I think it seems a little insecure."

We drooped our faces a little as we absorbed this, but it was breif, since we heard our badges beep. We grabbed them out and flipped them open. "A mission?" I asked, blinking in surprise. "Oh, don't TELL me we're gonna have to help someone out while getting soaked!!"

After the breifing played a bit, I made that face with the blue squigglies under one eye. "Yyyep," Hunter said, and we sighed.

"When duty calls..." Meyers mumbled.

-----

Out in the pinewood forest, the cloudy sky covered the tops of both cone-bearing coniferous and berry-packed dedicious trees. Laughter was heard below the branches, as was the sound of skateboards.

The scene shifted to a small group of boys, the same ones we'd seen before. They were at an area covered in bare, even stone. There were caves in the background, with stone ramps leading up to ones on different levels. A few thin-edged, sheetlike bits of rock stuck up around the place, and a few short walls of rock were curved into the rest of the rock. One bit even went around to a small cliff that also had rounded corners like the other walls. It appeared to be the place Nurse Joy spoke of before. It DID look like a natural skatepark, indeed. The boys were busy jumping between two rocks that were like short, small ramps, with a rock bearing a pretty flat top between them, or using the walls as quarterpipes, the one against the cliff being used as a halfpipe, and grinding on the edges of the walkways in front of the caves or the upended rock sheets.

Growling, a few Snorlax stomped out of their caves and bellowed at the kids. However, the kids merely laughed and skated towards them. Almost every Snorlax, appearing to not want to harm the humans, stepped out of the way. Only one stood still, standing its ground. The skater going towards it was unperturbed, however, and actually did a beanplant towards its belly, then planted his foot on it and bounced back, doing a wallplant on a Snorlax. The other kids squealed with joy as they saw this, then tried to do it themselves. The Snorlax all had to stand and let it happen, for their pride wouldn't let them hide in their caves. Equally, however, they still didn't seem to attack, despite how angry they obviously were getting. They really were peaceful.

Well, almost every one of the pokémon stood their ground. A somewhat smallish Snorlax with a bit rounder belly and what appeared to be a black eye(left), although still bigger than them, ran as fast as its stubby legs could go away from the skaters.

(Sooteye (translation) the Snorlax, Male Unknown age (young) Wild Pokémon)

"Hah-HHAAAAHH!! Come back, tubby!!" the boy closest said.

Sooteye was huffing along, barely able to keep away, but then, he tripped and fell forward, sliding along the ground. "SNOR!!" he grunted as he skidded. As soon as he slowed down, the skaters got over and jumped onto him. When they landed on the poor thing, his body compressed down onto his belly. They then jumped from his body, using it like a springboard, and onto the second of the three levels of the caves. They did this one after the other, until finally Sooteye had wheel marks embedded in his poor back.

The boys laughed and jeered. Just when Sooteye was getting up, the boys jumped and landed on his head, one after another, and used it to bounce down again. He was seeing circles of flying Pidgey by the time they were done, swaying to and fro a little. He shook his head and glared at the humans, who had stopped to point and laugh. He stamped his foot as hard as he could onto the ground. "C-COULD YOU QUIT IT?!" he roared in his language, which the badges translated for us. He was anger-veining a bit, shaking.

One of the boys smirked. "Looks like the big baby's gonna cry," he jeered.

"Yeah!! You big baby!!" another laughed, pointing at him. "You always just stand there like a moron while we use you like a funbox, or run away instead of letting us use you as a great wallplant target! None of your pals here do either of that stuff!"

Sooteye sweatdropped, then turned to look at his fellow pokémon. They gave him disapproving looks, crossed arms or paws on hips. He growled and turned his head back. "OH, SH-SHUT UP!!"

Another of the boys cackled. "What, you cranky that we woke all your lazy butts up and had some fun here? It's not yours to own, you know," he said, holding his arms out and motioning to the mountain-borne niche around them. "There ain't any signs or nothin' sayin' we can't c'mere and hang out cuz you guys live here! It's just like back at home; we can hang out in the streets, cuz nobody owns them even though others live around them." He grinned maliciously and crossed his arms. "You know what, actually?" he asked. "This place looks like it'd be cool to have some parties at! Yeah! I think we should invite all the skaters in town and tell them 'bout here, just a short ways off! And the best part about this place is, especially with the Annual Concreel City Skate Comp that's gonna get postponed due to rain, that big rock hangin' up there and those trees make for a great roof!!" He pointed up.

Indeed, the cliff came up and out, making an enormous overhang that almost covered the cave high up from rain. The thick trees around them covered anything else that needed it. And, just the skaters' luck, this covered all the area they played in, keeping it high and dry when it rained.

And, to prove how great the cover was, we saw an angled shot that showed the "entrance" to the rock denoted by a darker rock patch that the trees and cliff didn't cover up, since it had begun to rain.

Sooteye blanched at the concept. "WHAT?! N-NO!! THIS IS OUR HOME!!" he screamed at them.

The boys laughed at his roars. The grinning kid said, "What, you wanna do somethin' about it? C'mon, gimme your best shot, lardbag!" He gave the "bring it" gesture.

Sooteye growled, gritting his teeth, arms shaking, and stared for a few moments. But then, with a defeated sigh, he let his arms and head drop. "Stupid humans, you know we don't want to cause anyone any harm," he growled.

As if understanding him, the boy scoffed, "See? You sissies all are gonna have to learn how to sleep heavier, 'cuz there's gonna be a whole lotta ruckus goin' on here!! Maybe if you guys had half as much guts as you have gut, it'd be too dangerous!" He sighed and closed his eyes cockilly. "Haah, oh, well, I guess we'll have to tell someone about this great place, and they'll probably take this place as a great moneymaker from the skaters swarming our city and getting tired of our one crummy, tiny park. But I think that we should have rights to this place, since we found it."

Sooteye stamped his foot. "WE found it FIRST, you...BRATS!!" he roared.

The kid opened an eye. "Think you guys have rights to something that's free for anyone to claim?" he asked. He crossed his arms and smirked. "Then I've got news for you: We humans don't like sharing. And truth of the matter is, I bet that we can rig up the competition that'll undoubtedly come and be held here if we bring the officials here to scope the place out, making a bonus prize for the first place team being ownership of this awesome natural skate park! The gimmick alone will draw so many skaters, it'll make whoever wins RICH!!" He grinned. "And, you know, the rules don't say anything about pokémon entering, and I've seen a few jokesters try and train theirs to skate. It's hilarious. You get what I'm sayin', or you guys got fat for brains, too?"

Sooteye blinked, or it looked like he did, and hung his jaw a little. "Are you saying...that we could compete in your stupid contest and win our home??" he asked, then pantomimed. He pointed to himself, then to the skateboard the boy was holding.

The boy grinned viciously. "Yeah, I guess you're not as dumb as you look, sissy-squashy, eh?" he mocked. "Yeah, if you can find a board able to support you, any one of you guys can enter and, if you win, get to keep this place to yourselves, without another one of us bothering you again. How's that? Or are you too chicken for THAT??"

The response from every Snorlax was deafening: "BRING IT, YOU DEVIL'S SPAWN!!"

The boy chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes, then." He turned to the others. "Y'hear that, guys? A bunch of Snorlax wanna skate!!" he told them incredulously. The young'ns burst with laughter at the concept. The main boy turned and crossed his arms, smirking. "Good luck on that, lardcakes, because the Street Blazers are gonna burn you worse than a Fire Blast from a Charizard!!" He stood proudly in front of his group, who cheered in agreement. He thrust a finger forward. "Grab a board. We'll leave you be for a bit to see if you can manage to do this!!" The kids laughed as they first brought out umbrellas, then started skating off down the stony path, away.

The Snorlax all watched them go, then groaned in unison. They began muttering to each other.

"I can't believe it! They expect one of US to get on one of THOSE things?!"

"There's no way we'll find a big enough one, and besides, if we do, we're all way too big to do anything that they'd respect enough to consider more than silly!"

"We shouldn't even have to DO this!! Those children are so inconsiderate!!"

Sooteye blinked, then turned and faced his pack(or tribe, or whatever). "Wait, aren't we going to even try?" he asked.

The Snorlax gave him serious expressions. "You CAN'T be serious, Sooteye," said a very large one with a slightly darker front gravely. "They have us beat. We just don't have it any of us to strike against them. And all of us are too big and slow to do anything that they do. However..." The large one pointed at him. "You're the smallest and most agile of us, though not by much. That, and the fact of the matter is that we most likely won't find more than one board able to carry one of us. So our home's fate rests in your paws, Sooteye!!"

Sooteye blanched. "W-WHAT?! All alone?!" he asked.

"Yes, and it's a shame we have to rely on a lazy, cowardly crybaby of a Snorlax!!" the others roared in unison, angerveining. "At least TRY to not make us so doomed!!"

Sooteye staggered back, the gravity of the situation dawning on him. "B...But..." he whimpered, but couldn't say anything else. He began to tremble and shake, tears of fear and dread flying from his eyes, until finally, he whipped his head up and roared, in perfect English,

"HHEEAAAAAALLP!!"

-----

We blinked at the mission as its breifing ended. At that moment, we heard the skaters return. Everyone turned and watched. Through the glass, we heard muffled voices as they talked loudly.

"Heh-heh, yeah, man, this is gonna be FUN!!" one said.

"I'd love it if that whimpy Snorlax tried to beat us all! That'd be HILARIOUS!!" another said.

The main one before grinned. "I'm hopin' on seein' that, personally," he said, voice fading away as the group skated off under their umbrellas on the wet road.

I sighed and hung my head. "As much as this is gonna suck with the rain, this is really so unfair for the poor things..." I muttered. "C'mon, Kahn'll KILL us if we don't do this one."

Nurse Joy blinked in confusion. "Er...Who ARE you guys?" she asked.

We turned and smirked. "Agents on a mission," answered Hunter. Then, as one, we turned and ran outside into the rain, grabbing our mics. Behind us, we glanced to find Ash and Dawn start explaining who we were and what it was we did. We nodded and focused on running--careful not to slip--to our target.

"You know, this is the first time we've helped out a non-human," noticed Meyers. "This is gonna be interesting. What song should we do?"

I shrugged, thinking. "Uhm...Sk8er Boi was used already by the other guys," I said, "so that's out. Too obvious, though...and this guy sounds so insecure, it's gonna take a LOT...We need a good motivating song!! Dang, why'd we have to use Move Along already?!"

"Because we were motivated to cheer from our own hearts," Meyers answered. "Hmmmm..."

I thought. "Hey, what about Cartoon Heroes?" I suggested, holding up a finger.

Hunter shook his head, causing water to fly from his afro. "No, that one's still not so polished," he said.

"Okay...How about...Uhhh..." I was drawing a blank.

Meyers snapped his fingers. "I've got it!!" he cried. He told us, and I smacked my forehead, splashing water a bit.

"DUH! Why didn't I think of that?!" I grumbled, then smiled at my friend. "Thanks, man! And that one's so fun, we're not gonna care how wet our suits get!"

"No problem! Let's just help this poor sucker and see if we can cheer from a place covered by the rain!" Meyers said, and we agreed.

**MISSION: A Truly Extreme Challange!! Skate For Your Home**

Sooteye frowned and hung his head as he plodded along the road to the city. "Where am I going to find an XXXXL-sized skateboard?...And would anyone make one for a pokémon?" he whined. He then stopped and looked up, perking his ears as he heard a few guitar notes being played. "Snor? What's that sound?" He yelped when he saw us running at him top-speed. "YIKES!! Not MORE of them!!" he cried in dismay, flinching back.

Due to the advanced power of our badges, using a device dubbed BABLFSH, we could understand him perfectly. We skidded and stopped, me holding out my badge. "The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" I told him.

He blinked and looked like he raised an eyebrow. "...Huh?"

We grinned. "You just get your burly self in gear, and we'll help you out the only way we know how!" I told him, and we leapt back and began swinging.

Sooteye watched us, then couldn't help the energy that began to flow throught his large body and began swinging. "WHOOOOOO!!"

"""Are you ready?...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

--Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me

--I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed

--She was lookin' kinda dumb with her finger and her thumb

--In the shape of an "L" on her forehead

At first, Sooteye had trouble as he, now in the city, walked and looked around, trying to find where he could get a big skateboard. Humans gave him startled, uneasy, and confused looks. Many grabbed and hid any food they were carrying. We made sure not to let the rain get to us or slip and fall, though we were moving around quite a lot. Through the drive to help his home, Sooteye began to moter on through, searching left and right with fervor.

'Maaan, this bites,' he thought, worried look on his face as he slowed down to walk after a bit and looked left and right. 'There can't possibly be anyone who's made a really big skateboard that I could use...' He turned his head and saw something that caught his attention. "Snor?"

Through the window of a skateshop, he saw a person that appeared to be putting the finishing touches on an especially large skateboard. It seemed to be made of quality materials. Sooteye grinned and ran over. "No way!!"

However, he had a bit of trouble getting inside the shop. The door was a TIDDLY bit small for him. He stopped and frowned, putting a paw on where his chin appeared to be. 'Yeah, no way in...Argh, think!!' He thought for a little bit. Then, he snapped his claws. 'That's it! Minimize!' He took in a deep breath and sucked in his gut, which was quite impressive to see, and bunched himself up so much he could barely move. 'Can't...hold it...long...eeep!' He looked pretty strained, but he reached and knocked on the door.

The guy answered it, wearing a backwards hat and a white tank and blue shorts. He looked moderately strong and agile. "Hello? WOAH!!" he yelped, jumping back as Sooteye began squeezing through. It was hard, and he went slow.

'Al...most...Can't...hold it!!' He was sweating hard, but finally, with a POP!!, he squeezed right in. As soon as he was inside, he stopped using Minimize with a sigh of releif. "PHEW!!"

The owner of the skate shop gawked. "Wow, that's the first time in my life I've seen a Snorlax fit through a human-sized door without breaking it!!" he marveled. Indeed, the wall the door was on was intact!!

**O**

(--)Well, the years start comin' and they don't stop comin'

(--)Fent(?) to the rules and I hit the ground runnin'

(--)Didn't make sense not to live for fun

(--)Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

(--)So much to do, so much to see

(--)So what's wrong with takin' the backstreets

(--)Y'never know if you don't go

(--)Y'never shine if you don't glow

(--)Sooteye did the best pantomime he could, waving his arms around as he tried to describe his plight.

The shop owner nodded, hand to chin. "Mm-hmm, uh-huh, so you're here because some kids wanna turn your home into a skatepark?" he asked. He raised a red eyebrow. "Wait, I think I remember some kids talkin' to me and some other guys about movin' the comp over out in the boonies somewhere...Well, big guy, if y'want to even think of makin' it on my work of art over there," he said, pointing to his big skateboard he'd just finished, "you'd better show me if you're up for it!"

--Hey now

--You're an all star

--Get your game on

--Go play

--Hey now

--You're a rock star

--Get the show on

--Get paid

--(And all that glitters is gold)

--Only shooting stars break the mo-o-wold

Sooteye, given a pretty basic-looking large skateboard by the shop owner, had a little trouble trying to stay on, wobbling this way and that, pushing feebly, going back and forth across a large area in the shop's back. The owner looked on, crossed arms and uncertain expression on his face. However, the Snorlax's drive to help his home spurred him to feel more confident. He was soon riding along at a good speed, perfectly balanced and pushing with certainty. The owner watching gave a smile.

Sooteye was skating along for a bit. 'I think I've got the hang of this thing!' he thought.

"Yo! Big guy!! Let's see an ollie, eh?" the shop owner asked, calling from his end of the room.

Sooteye blinked and looked. "SNOR?!" 'That's what those kids called it when it jumped, right? I'm never...well...' He crouched, moving, then did his best to try and jump. "LAX!!" he cried as he bounced up into the air, then landed back down on the board, regaining balance almost immediately. He gasped and looked at his feat. He grinned and tried it a few more times, landing it each time. He laughed in joy. "I HAVE A CHANCE!!" he whooped.

The shop owner grinned. "Heh, alright, big guy," he said, laughing and clapping, "if you can master an ollie that fast, I've got faith in you. Take my board over there, and know yer skatin' on QUALITY!!"

Sooteye, eyes glistening in thankful tears, gaped and smiled. He did his best to bow, saying thank you. 'This is turning out to be easier than I thought!'

**O**

(--)It's a cool place

(--)And they say it gets colder

(--)You're bundled up now, wait till you get older

(--)But the medio men beg to differ

(--)Judging by the hole in the satellite picture

Sooteye left the store with the new skateboard. 'I think I should get a bit of practice in now, and skate home...besides, I don't wanna be in this rain for long, it's ruining my fur!' he thought, and got onto the board.

--The ice we skate

--It's gettin' pretty thin

--The water's gettin' warm, so you might as well swim

--My world's on fire

--How 'bout yours

--That's the way I like it and I never get bored

--Hey now

--You're an all star

--Get your game on

--Go play

--Hey now

--You're a rock star

--Get the show on

--Get paid

--(And all that glitters is gold)

--Only shooting stars break the mo-o-wold

Sooteye started off doing very well, skating along and even ollieing a few times, with the rare, daring kickflip. Suddenly, though, both he and we slipped on the wet ground, and he was sent tumbling down to the ground. He held his elbow and cried for a moment. We just grumbled about our suits getting messy and got up and back to it. Then, the poor guy bucked up and started skating again, just plain skating. He got his energy back entirely and began skating like he did at first.

He was soon passing by the Center. As he did, he saw the fence posts very nearby the road and got an idea, remembering some of the kids grinding on some edges. "Hey, why not try?" he asked nobody, and ollied over to them. "Here GOES!!" he grunted.

He landed on one and began in a noseslide. (Inside, we saw Ash and everyone else instantly rush over to the windows and gawk.) When he reached the gap between the fences that the path up to the Center went between, he sweatdropped. "Shoot! I can't jump like this!!" Suddenly, quick as a flash, he knew he had to try. He leaned and pivoted the board as best he could and landed it into a 50-50 grind. He did so just in time, too, since he had to ollie over and onto the next fence just as soon as he'd begun the grind. He landed, slipping forward a little on the fence as he inadvertantly went into a 5-0 grind. "SNOO-OOO-OOORR!!" he yelped as he fought for balance. He got it back soon, then 50-50'd again and ollied off right at the end, back onto the road. He landed and went off, gaping at what he did. Looking back, he muttered, "That...was actually fun!"

**O**

Meanwhile, at the Center, when Ash and crew heard the sound of what sounded like lots of skateboards going along wet concrete, they went to the windows. "What in the world?!" Dawn shouted as she saw Sooteye come from around the trees. Everyone else in the Center went over to look.

Joy blanched as she saw the Snorlax leap onto her fences. "IT'S GONNA DESTROY THEM!!" she yelped in horror, but went white in the face as he almost carreened into the other fence. When he made it, and then onto the road again, she remained silent. Finally, after a few moments, she said, "Skateboarding Snorlax. Now I've seen EVERYTHING..." before nearly fainting from the scare of having to replace something moderately expensive. Brock went to her rescue, though.

"How...What?" Ash muttered, then widened his eyes as he saw us running top-speed to keep up with the very fast wide load. He laughed. "I KNEW IT!!" He opened the door and shouted to us, "DO YOU GUYS DO STUFF THIS CRAZY OFTEN??"

"""MORE THAN YOU'D THINK!""" we shouted back, then went around the corner ourselves.

Back to Sooteye...

(--)(Instrumental)

Sooteye finally got back home. The other Snorlax blanched at his skateboard. "YOU FOUND ONE?!" they cried.

Sooteye nodded. "Yeah, and now I've gotta get training!" he replied.

--Hey now

--You're an all star

--Get you game on

--Go play

--Hey now

--You're a rock star

--Get the show on

--Get paid

--(And all that glitters is gold)

--Only shooting staaarrrrs...

Sooteye went and trained for the next couple days. At first, he was going great, going all around and grinding and using the quarterpipes and doing flatland tricks as best he could(we resisted laughing at how funny he looked). The other Snorlax rooted him on. But then, as he went on, he began to get tired and went a little slower, without as much energy. The other Snorlax grumbled at him. This, however, was breif, and he was motivated to, again, get goin' and practice hard.

At one point, he went over to the "halfpipe." He gulped. "I'd better get trying here, too," he muttered, and went and tried. He dropped in from the lip of the side opposite the cliff and went down. Then, he went back up. He went down. And he went up, down, up, down...And he didn't fall off!! He grinned as he felt the rush. "I'm not turning into a Snorlax pancake!! WOO-HOO!!" he cried in joy.

The big Snorlax from before was especially smiling as he and the others watched. "You know, maybe I didn't make such a bad choice," he mumbled.

**O**

(--)Somebody once asked

(--)Could I spare some change for gas?

(--)"I need to get myself away from this place."

The day of the competition came. The humans came and set up the competition, much to the chagrin of the Snorlax. The competition began, with the announcer introducing Sooteye. "And here we have, for your entertainment, a resident Snorlax here!" he called, and the audience, in stands set up with roofs to fend off the rain that had remained for all those days, laughed as Sooteye stepped out.

Sooteye gulped and looked at his home, which he'd skated for the past few days. 'This is it,' he thought. 'The moment of truth...' He clenched a fist and looked up at his friends and family up in their caves, backed up to allow the skaters to do things around them. "I can't let you down!!" he cried.

We looked at each other and nodded. "Let's finish this one out!" I said. We nodded and went to work.

--I said, "Yep,

--"What a concept;

--"I could use a little fuel myself and we could

--"All use a little

--"Chaaaaaange..."

--Well, the years start comin' and they don't stop comin'

--Fent(?) to the rules and I hit the ground runnin'

--Didn't make sense not to live for fun

--Your brain gets smart, but your head gets dumb

--So much to do, so much to see

--So what's wrong with taking the backstreets

--You never know if you don't go (GO!)

--You never shine if you don't glow

--Hey now

--You're an all star

--Get you game on

--Go play

--Hey now

--You're a rock star

--Get the show on

--Get paid

--(And all that glitters is go-o-old)

--Only shooting stars break the mo-o-wold

Sooteye, at first, was nervous, and was timidly going around while sometimes waving his arms to keep balance. The crowd laughed a bit. But then, his drive to save his home fueled him to do his best. He was soon skating his best, the entire natural skatepark he called home covered with his wheel tracks as he ground, flatlanded, and aired trick after trick after trick, doing things that was previously unheard of for a Snorlax to be able to do. The crowd was so impressed with his performance that he was first just silently gaped at, then cheered on. Sooteye paid no attention to anyone's cheers or jeers, though, and focused soley on skating his fat ass off.

Finally, the competition ended, and the announcer stepped out to the middle of the park, standing on the flat stone between the "ramps" I mentioned earlier. In front, the humans--Ash and friends included--watched and held their breath. Behind, the Snorlax all watched and held their breath, too. To either side stood the skaters, grouped together by teams, with Sooteye being the only one who was alone.

The announcer raised his free hand to wave at the audience and said, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! Thank you for coming all the way out here to this beautiful spot pointed out to us by the leader of the Street Blazers, with its astounding natural formfitting to skating and cover for the rain! Now, of our five teams and one unique solo entrant, who shall win? Win thousands in prize money to spend how they choose and also rights to this amazing location? DRUMROLL PLEASE!!" he called, and pointed to a group of drummers handilly stationed nearby.

The song ended just then, so the drumroll was all that was heard by anyone. We held our breath. The other humans held their breaths. The pokémon held their breaths. And the skaters held theirs. The leader of the Street Blazers leaned out and gave a malicious grin to Sooteye. Sooteye just clenched his eyes shut and hoped. 'Please...Oh, please, please, please...'

The drumroll continued as, on a board between the two stands and over the path leading up to the cave system, the score flashed on. One by one, from last to first, the logos of the teams ran up with their names by them, a total score to the right of the name and the three category scores to the right of that. Sooteye couldn't bear to watch. With each new appearing team, the drumline hit a loud note on their drums, which were usually somewhat soft during the drumroll. The drumroll creschendoed as the top four went up. Finally, with a final pause before the the top two, the drumroll ended with a crash on the cymbals. Both first and second places appeared onscreen.

"WWOOAAAAHHH!!" came shouts from all around, including the announcer. The skater teams just gawked. The announcer blinked, then chuckled and smiled, closing his eyes a moment. Opening them, he raised his hand, pointing up. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! I proudly pronounce the winner...with the best scores in all three categories of street, vert, and flatland, and the best score overall..." He spun and pointed at Sooteye. "THE LONE, BRAVE SNORLAX SKATING PHENOMENON!!"

Sooteye, who was shaking in worry--'I lost, I knew it!'--suddenly shot his eyes open. "SNOR?!" He stood up and turned to the announcer, then to the screen. His jaw dropped as he saw that, indeed, he won with an astounding score of 99.9 overall!! "NO WAY!!" he cried, mouth turning up into a smile as his eyes glistened with tears. He then clenched up and jumped up, pumping his arms in joy. "I DID IT!! I DID IT!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT!!"

The Snorlax all gasped, then began roaring in joy. "HE DID IT!! HE DID IT!!" they cheered. "SOOTEYE SAVED OUR HOME!!"

The leader of the Street Blazers growled, then pointed at the scoreboard. "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?! THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A MISTAKE!!" he roared, angrilly. "YOU CAN'T SERIOUSLY BE AWARDING A WILD SNORLAX THE PRIZE MONEY AND OWNERSHIP OF THIS PLACE!!"

At this, Sooteye growled and stomped down HARD, causing people to jump up from the shock. He then spat, as best as he could, the word, "HOME!!" in human language. The crowd gasped at this. Then, Sooteye smirked and crossed his arms, and gave a look that was just so obviously saying, "Who's the crybaby NOW?" that the leader of the kids seethed and turned away, crossing his arms and humphing.

The announcer grinned. "Well, looks like these Snorlax had a mighty close shave!" he laughed. "We had a feeling this was their home, but they didn't seem to mind us setting up here, so we did. Looks like they really DID care!!" He bowed to Sooteye. "We're sorry!! But think of it this way: Now, since you've won it fair and square, nobody will ever try and claim this place ever again!"

Sooteye gasped, smiling. "R-really?!" The other Snorlax behind him did the same.

The announcer nodded. "C'mon, everyone!! LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR THE WINNER OF THIS YEAR'S COMPETITION!!" he cried, and grabbed Sooteye's paw and held it up.

Sooteye just watched in wonder as he was cheered by the humans. "I...I'm so happy!" he whispered. Then, pumping his other arm up, he declared, "FROM THIS DAY FORTH, I AM i NOT /i A LOSER!!"

(--)(And all that glitters is go-o-old!)

(--)Only shooting stars break the mo-o-wold...

-:-:-

Sooteye was seen sleeping happilly against a wall at his home, skateboard by his side. Around him, the other Snorlax went around carrying in different foods that the group decided to purchase with the prize money. And, in the distance near the entrance to the den, stood the Street Blazers, especially their leader, who was giving a glare at Sooteye.

-:-:-

We, of course, left before then, with everyone else. We grinned and made our way up the stands to Ash and friends, including Joy, after we saw Sooteye being announced the winner. Joy smiled up at us. "You guys really did a great thing, you know?" she told us as we got there.

We laughed a little weakly. "Yeah, I guess we did," I said, sitting down next to him. "Sorry we were gone so long."

They nodded. Joy's smile went very warm. "I'm just so glad that those Snorlax aren't going to be bothered anymore," she said. "Thank you for helping them. And for that black-eyed one, especially; I can see he's full of confidence now!"

We smiled. "Just doing our duty," Meyers said.

I growled. "That's my line!!" I complained facitiously. Everyone laughed.

And, of course, after everyone left around us, we got our usual call from Kahn. We were the last ones in the stands, with Ash and co. as well as Nurse Joy, talking about our mission, when our badges beeped. We drew them out and looked at Kahn. He did his usual thumbs-up to us, and we smiled at each other.

"YEEAAAHHH!!"

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

-

--

---

Kahn sat back down and raised his eyebrow. "Interesting mission, boys," he commented. "But one well-done nonetheless. Good job to Meyers for the song suggestion. I think you three did a very good performance that energized that creature to the max. And on that, good job on your first nonhuman-target mission, too!"

We nodded. "Thank you, sir," Meyers said. "We did the best we could, and it worked out great, rain and all."

Kahn nodded. "I suspect a few more pokémon-target missions are ahead, so keep your wits about you," he advised. "Keep up the good work. We're trying to find out how to pull you out of there, so please have patience." After we nodded, he did and said, "Well, that'll be all. DIS-MISSED!!"

"""YESSIR!!"""

After closing our badges and stowing them, we saw Nurse Joy look at us a bit impressed. "You three are quite the cheerleaders, aren't you?" she asked, then giggled.

We smiled and nodded. "That's 'bout what we do," Hunter said.

Nurse Joy smiled warmly. "I hope that if you DO end up helping out other pokémon, you do your best to cheer them on," she hoped.

We put our fists to our chests. "You can count on us!" I said. "We're EBA Agents! We HAVE to do our best!"

"Otherwise Commander Kahn will have a coniption on us!" Meyers joked, and we all laughed.

-

(Yes, an attempt to at least make a somewhat notechart!!)

-...(3)...(1)...(9)...

-...

-..(4)...(10).

-...

-(5&6)..(7)..(2)..(8)(11&12)

-...

-...

-...

-...

---------------------------

-...

-...[3...[2...[1.

-...

-...[6...[5...[4...

-...

-...[10\...

-[7...\.\...

-...[8[9...[!...

-...

---------------------------

-...9...

-...

-...8...

-...

-...7...

-...6...

-...5...3...

-...4...2...

-...1...

---------------------------

-... 1 ... 2 \...

-... 3 4 5 \...

-... 6 .. ...

-... ...

-...

-...

-...

-...

-...

(Well, the years start com- ing and they don't stop com- ing)

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 )

[Fent(?) to the rules and I hit the ground run- ning

[1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-- [!

Did- n't make sense not to live for fun

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Your brain gets smart but your head gets du- umb

1 2---- --- ! 3 4 5--- --- ! 6

Let's hope that this works...Man, this was a tough scenario to pick, but I wanted to do this song so much! Sorry for the absurdly long intro sequence! ;;


	13. FLY AWAY

(13)( ) (Touch) (the) (Sky)

Kioshi walked along the path, smiling as he glanced down at his new friend, Dratini. She was happilly slithering alongside him. Kioshi grinned, then looked forwards again. The group was finally in Kanto, after a few days' travel. They had discovered that Kioshi wasn't really that bad at battling, after one trainer tried to capture Dratini(who, despite being Kioshi's friend, was still officially wild. Kioshi hadn't the heart to try and capture her in a pokéball). Through occasional battles with other trainers for half the losing side's cash, the Ouendan made enough Pokédollars for themselves to feed them. And, since Dratini was inseprable from Kioshi, most Pokémon Centers said that they could stay for free, just as if it was a trainer and his traveling companions. All in all, life wasn't half-bad for them anymore.

As of now, the three were in the vicinity of Viridian City, having just traveled the route connecting Johto and Kanto together. They were a little tired, but planned on resting up in Viridian, since it was so close. The afternoon sun shone down on them and lifted their spirits.

Hibiki sighed and stretched his arms. "Haah, what a nice day," he commented, smiling and looking up. He saw clouds spaced apart in the sky. "Just enough clouds that it isn't too bright...a nice breeze every now and then...and cute Spinarak hanging out with us!"

At this, Suzu paled and looked around. Indeed, hanging from some trees were the small spider pokémon. She made the blue-squiggly-under-eye thing and bunched close to Hibiki, who grunted in surprise. "Aaah," said the female Ouendan, losing her usual serious additude for the moment as she looked at the Bug-types, "could we...not talk about that last part, Hibiki?"

Hibiki raised his eyebrows, then chuckled. "They're only pokémon," he said. "If you don't harm them, they won't harm you. Usually."

Suzu's anime expression intensified. "It's...not...that..." she said shortly. "I...Uh...I'm arachniphobic..."

"Afraid of spiders?" asked Kioshi, glancing over his shoulder. "Sure, I wouldn't like one crawling all over me, but they're not that scary..." He turned his head back around front and froze as an Aridos suddenly dropped down on a silky thread from the tree in front of him. He made the same expression as Suzu and inched back to Hibiki. "Eeep," he quietly said. Dratini slithered over and wrapped around his leg gently, making sure that if he decided to bolt, she'd go with. Personally, she wasn't really afraid of the unnerving-looking pokémon at all.

Hibiki looked from Suzu to Kioshi, then laughed. "Come ON!! There's nothing to be afraid of!!" He sighed and shook his head, starting to walk off. The two others squeaked and rushed to cling close while they marched out of the spidery forest. Hibiki sighed again. "Well, nobody's perfect," he muttered, and the three went on, Dratini wrapped around Kioshi's leg.

The squad finally arrived at Viridian City Pokémon Center. There, while Dratini was given a check-up, Kioshi and Suzu slumped against the chairs, hearts still alive from the forest. "Okay, that thing just frightened me and scared away my courage for the moment, alright?" Kioshi asked.

Suzu nodded. "Yeah, as long as I was just acting," she bargined.

"Deal."

After Dratini was checked up on, the group decided to grab some lunch. Hibiki decided on having some good old beef stew, Kioshi liked to have some ramen, and Suzu settled on some sushi, much of which consisted of California rolls. Dratini was fine eating some Dragon-type pokémon food. Kioshi swallowed his ramen and muttered, looking at her, "Dratini's still wild, but it'd be nice if we could denote that we'd like it if folks didn't try catching her..."

Hibiki chewed thoughtfully. "Well," he said, then swallowed, "how about we get her a collar or something?"

Suzu raised an eyebrow, pausing in picking up her next piece of sushi with her chopsticks. "Yeah, but I don't think she'd appreciate something being put snug around her neck. Besides, it'll only fall off--she's got a head, but there's no shoulders to stop it from sliding off the other end." She popped the roll into her mouth.

Kioshi sighed aggrivatedly. "Well, nuts," he said in English for the moment. "Then how are we to make it so that people know that she's not to be captured, but in a way that we can easilly remove it once she wants to be on her own again?"

The three thought for a moment, eating their lunches. Kioshi finished his ramen and drank down the remaining broth. After he set the bowl back down and reached for a napkin, Dratini, curious, got up onto the table and peered inside the bowl. "Ti?" she squeaked as she looked inside, sniffing. She leaned inside just a little more. Her neck rested against the rim. Thinking she could rest against it, she let some of her weight fall onto the rim.

In a squeaking "NI?!" and a sound of sliding ceramic, as well as a hollow, dull, small i thunk /i sound, the poor Dragon-type had an empty ramen bowl on her head, covering it completely. Some people around, including the Ouendan, turned to look, blinked, then couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight. After a moment, Dratini started to wiggle around, trying to get it off. Kioshi rescued her and lifted the bowl off her head. She blinked, some leftover broth on her head, then couldn't help but giggle a little.

Kioshi chuckled. "Dratini, you should be more careful," he admonished her a little, wiping her head off with a clean part of his napkin. "But, then, you might not have known that would happen, did you?"

Dratini looked up at him with her cute eyes and shook her head. "Ti, dra-ni," she said. She gave an interested look to the ramen bowl. She cocked her head thoughtfully.

Kioshi raised an eyebrow, then looked at the bowl. He smiled. "Hey, Dratini?" he asked, looking at his friend pokémon. "Would you like a hat?"

Dratini raised her eyeridges and tilted her head the other way. "Ni?"

When the three left the Center, Dratini was happilly squirming along with a cute little cap on her head. It was provided on request by the kind Nurse Joy. It was a little black and blue baseball cap she used to wear, but never did anymore. It fit Dratini's head loosely--they had to adjust it to its smallest, then bunch up the excess into a rubber band. She didn't mind it in the slightest, however, and wore it all the time.

After a while, the group headed into Viridian Forest, looking to get on to Sinnoh. However, once they entered, they found it swarming with Bug-types, which unnerved Suzu and set Kioshi a little off-balance. So, seeing as it was a long way going around it, they decided to just run through, after Dratini wrapped herself around Kioshi's leg again. At one point, her hat flew off and she had to snap at it to grab it back.

Finally, after what felt like an age, the party made it out of the forest. They stood and panted a little bit. After catching their breath again, they set off at a nice walk. Their progress would again be interrupted, though.

At once, all three felt it. They glanced to each other, then dashed off.

-----

Laughter was heard coming from a clearing before the route led to Pewter City. A young black-haired boy sat, wearing a white button-up short-sleeve and a pair of black jeans, with a girl about his age, with long green-streaked brown hair. She wore a preppy-looking blue-black-green plaid vest over a shirt like the boy's and a black miniskirt. Both had white socks and black shoes.

"Oh-hohohoho!" the girl laughed. "That is so funny, isn't it, Jin-chan?" She looked lustfully at the boy with her brown eyes.

The boy--Jin, apparantly--chuckled and smiled sweetly back. "Yeah, it is," he agreed. "I can't believe that your friend saw a Dratini wear a bowl on its head like that!"

Kioshi sweatdropped, looking from ahead, through the bushes they hid behind, to down, where Dratini sat. She looked up at him and gave a "Sorry!" smile-sweatdrop combo. The human shrugged and looked back forwards.

The boy sighed and looked at the sky. "You're so nice, Hiromi!" he complimented. "You're bright, bubbley, and funny!"

Hiromi blushed and giggled. "Aw, please," she joked, batting a hand at him.

"Grrrrrr..." growled a voice.

The Ouendan looked to their left to see a young girl with pink hair in locks around her head squatting and looking through the bushes at the two along with the cheer squad. She didn't appear to have noticed the teenage cheerers coming. (They themselves were too busy focusing on the reading they'd felt to notice her before.) She wore a red blazer over a white blouse, as well as blue jean capris. She had on pink sandals. "I canNOT believe her," she mumbled in English. (Although they didn't understand much of it directly, the Ouendan could understand her through the emotions she eminated.) "There she is, acting all cute and stuff for Jin. All because he's a rich kid and she wants in on the cool stuff he's got!" She punched the ground in frustration.

(Rosa Edwards, 15, American foreign exchange student)

The two continued. "So, what kind of things do you like?" asked Jin.

Hiromi smiled teasingly while she thought. "Ooooh, lots of things," she answered, and looked at him slyly.

He didn't catch the hint and just lay back, looking skyward again. "I'd LOVE to fly," he said. "Just get on a Pidgeot and fly away...That'd be great."

Hiromi, at this, pouted. "Why would you want to get on a smelly old bird?" she asked. "There's tons of stuff you can do on land!"

But Jin shook his head. "No, not really," he disagreed, "not for me. I want to fly in the sky, to soar!"

Hiromi was a bit upset at this. She tried to change topic. "Well, we can at least play a flying simulator!" she suggested, trying to sound bright.

Jin sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, but..." he trailed off dreamilly. Hiromi anger-veined.

"See! I KNEW it!" whispered Rosa, anger-veining herself. "She doesn't want to really be friends with him! She just wants his stuff!! But why does Jin stand her? Is it because she's Japanese and I'm not?" She looked down a bit, feeling a bit depressed. "I want him to be happy, since I think, hope, he's a friend, but...Sigh Well, the only way to start is to talk." She sighed and turned away from the Ouendan and crawled to be behind a tree, then stood and walked out from it. She waved to the two there and called in Japanese, "Hi!!"

The two looked over to her. Jin smiled and waved. Hiromi pouted and crossed her arms, glaring at her. "Well, hey, Edwards!" called Jin. "What's up?"

Rosa smiled and shook her head, ruby eyes bright in her head. "Nothing much. I was taking a walk and saw you two and decided to say hi!" She walked over and sat down beside him. "So, whatcha guys talking about?" she asked.

"None of YOUR business," spat Hiromi, snarling. She got a normal face when Jin looked her way.

"Hiromi, I know she sort of barged in, but talking about games can be anyone's business," he admonished.

At this, Rosa blanched. As Jin sighed and looked up to the sky again for a moment, Hiromi grinned at her maliciously.

Rosa gaped. 'What...huh?...' she thought. Then, she smiled and got up. "Well, I've got to get going now," she said, and turned back the way she came after bowing goodbye. When she got behind the tree again, she stopped and said to herself panickedly, "He doesn't want to talk about flying to me?!" in her native tounge. "That means...but...I...I..." She shook.

"You're never gonna get him, so just stay out of it," said the voice of Hiromi. Rosa turned and gasped. Hiromi was standing there. Jin had apparantly gotten up to go home, himself, and had left Hiromi. She was talking in Japanese, though had appeared to understand Rosa's English. She smirked triumphantly. "Just give it up, American Idiot," she mocked. "He doesn't really like people who aren't from his home country, which means you'll never be friends with him, even. Just be lucky he's nice and softens his blows, otherwise you'd be even more heartbroken!" She gave her little laugh again as she walked away.

Rosa dropped her jaw as she left, speechless. That is, well, until her shaking got to the point she trembled all over. "O...O..." She then whipped her head skyward and cried,

"OUENDAAAAAAN!!"

-----

The Ouendan looked at one another and nodded. As they dropped off their packs, Kioshi told Dratini, "Please, stay here and keep watch over our stuff. If we need to move, we'll grab them and you can come with. If anyone tries to steal them, use a good Water Gun on them, alright?"

Dratini nodded, eyes narrowed determinedly. "Dra!"

Kioshi smiled and looked at the other two. "Let's do this," he said, and the three ran the short distance.

-:- Go for the Sky-borne Heart! A Battle to Earn Friendship? -:-

Rosa wiped away a tear. "How am I going to get his friendship?" she wondered. She then had an idea. "Wait!" She looked into the forest. "Maybe if I catch a Pidgey or something, he'll end up liking me!" Then she drooped her head. "But I've only got that stupid Premeir Ball my dad's friend pawned off onto me with me...And I don't think that I can catch a pokémon off the bat with that!" She slumped against the tree helplessly.

It was then that the Ouendan came in. """OSU!!""" they cried. A song began to play behind them.

Instantly, flames seemed to leap up around Rosa as she burned with fighting spirit like a good American. "GOOOOOOOO!"

The three skidded into position. """IKOIYA!!...SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!"""

--Dare ka wo honki de suki ni natte

--Kizutsuku koto wo osorete ita no

--Hitori de wa nan ni mo deki nai kuse ni

--Tsuyogari bakari itte tanda

Another anime song played in the background as Kioshi and his teammates got down to business to "Fly Away," the second ending theme from the hit Eureka 7. This song, while it talked about flying like the previous Eureka 7 song, was a lot more upbeat and easy to use to uplift one's spirits. (This translates to: It's much more belivable to see in an Ouendan game than Taiyou no Mannaka he.) While the Ouendan cheered her on, Rosa took out her white Premier ball and began moving through the forest, looking around for any bird pokémon. At first, she was only going at a walk, but then her desire to be friends with Jin drove her to go at a run, looking left and right with enthusiasm.

After a time, she came through some trees and looked around after climbing up one for a good view. "Huh?" She grunted, then gasped. "No way!"

Right there was an enormous Pidgeot, standing there and looking rather bored.

Rosa looked left and right quickly while she checked for any trainer that might own it, then grinned. "It's wild! No way!" She jumped out of the tree and looked at the Pidgeot, who turned to face her. "Here goes!" she cried and reeled her arm back. "PREMIER BALL, GO!!"

The ball flew out and struck the pokémon, sucking it inside. It went in and the ball landed. It wiggled a little bit, then the light went out.

Rosa blinked for a moment, then cheered in joy. "HOLY COW! I CAN'T BELIEVE I CAUGHT A i PIDGEOT i WITH A PREMIER BALL!" she exclaimed. She then put a finger to her cheek and looked up in thought. "Y'know, I bet it wouldn't cooperate right away unless it knows what I want it to do." She therefore got the ball and let out the Pidgeot, who blinked, confused. "Hey, Pidgeot?" Rosa asked, using Japanese. Pidgeot turned and glared at her.

Rosa sweatdropped and quickly asked, "Could you please help me try earning the friendship of someone? If you want, I'll let you go afterwards!!"

The pokémon looked like it had murder in its eyes, then cooed sweetly and nodded, smiling kindly down at her.

Rosa breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much!" she said, smiling.

(--O--)

(--)Kokoro no oku kakushiteta yowasa

(--)Mite mi nai furi shite dakedo

(--)Sonna koto sae mo

(--)Fuki tobasasu hodo ookina mono

(--)mitsuketa no YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE

Rosa, after recalling Pidgeot, ran back through the forest. "Now to get to Jin!" She skidded outside the edge of the forest and looked around. "But...where'd he go?" she asked. She looked at Pidgeot's ball. "Am I...Gulp...gonna have to use Fly already...?" 'I've never ridden on a pokémon before...'

"""OSU!!"""

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Anata to futari dattara

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Nani mo kowaku wa nai kara

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Shippai shi tatte ii ja nai

--GO ANOTHER PLACE

--TAKE IT EASY

Rosa let out her Pidgeot and used Fly. At first, she was a bit uncertain and nervous on its back. Pidgeot itself glanced up at her, looking as if it were uncertain she was brave enough to do this. She was a bit too busy trying to stay on to look over on the ground much. Then, suddenly, some turbulant winds came and Rosa, screaming, clutched Pidgeot's long head feathers while she hung on for dear life. Pidgeot, poor thing, was squaking and fluttering helplessly as it tried to stay afloat amidst the turbulence and endure the near-hysterical girl's clutching of its feathers painfully. But then, the turbulence subsided, and Rosa, appologizing in Japanese, got back to normal. (Meanwhile, below, the Ouendan had slipped up just a second, since Suzu, always a slightly critically-minded girl, thought about how, again, they were doing an anime song, and had dropped focus from the rhythm, causing the slip-up. She sweatdropped after they messed up and it remained until they were totally back on track.) After a little while, Rosa got up the courage and, taking a deep breath, looked occasionally off the sides of Pidgeot. Pidgeot, glad that she had calmed down and confident she was brave enough now, soared with face forward. (It was here that the pokémon truly decided to help out the poor human with all its heart.)

Rosa looked left and right. "Where could he be?" she muttered in Japanese. She shook her head. "I think we're too high, Pidgeot," she told it, looking at it. "Could you fly down a bit lower?"

Pidgeot replied with an affirmative squak and dived a little. On its back, Rosa gulped and held on as best she could. It leveled out and looked back at Rosa worriedly.

Rosa was a little shakey, but she shook her head and looked out over the pokémon's sides. She smiled. "Yeah, this is much better, Pidgeot!" she commented. "Arigat-OH!" She pointed at a figure below, walking along and looking forlornly at the sky. "We found him!!" she squealed in joy.

Pidgeot gave a little smirk.

(--O--)

(--)Tsukami torou tosureba suru hodo

(--)Toozakatte yuku yume wo mita no

(--)Hitoribocchi ni nari taku nakute

(--)Hisshi ni hashiri tsuduketanda

Rosa landed and recalled Pidgeot nearby where he was, then ran over to him. "Miyagi!!"

Jin (last name Miyagi) looked over and saw her. "Hello, Edwards," he greeted. "What is it?"

Rosa grinned and held her premier ball up. "I caught a big Pidgeot, and it's very kind! Do you want to fly on its back?" she asked.

At this, Jin's eyes sparkled up and he clasped his hands together. "R-REALLY?! I'd LOVE to!!" he answered breathlessly.

"OOOOH! I wanna come, too!" chimed in Hiromi, who came prancing over. She smiled sweetly at the two.

Rosa anger-veined at her, but calmly said, "Sure, if it's alright with Jin."

Jin was too busy fantasizing flying along on Pidgeot's back. The girls sweatdropped at him. "I don't think he cares," muttered Hiromi in English.

"For once, I agree," Rosa muttered back in her native language. 'But darn! She's just gonna try and cause trouble! What a mess!!'

"""OSU!!"""

--Tsunaida te ni kanjita kiseki wo

--Shinjite yukuru sonna ki gashita

--Kokoro no oku hikari wo tomoshita no wa anata dake

--BABY YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO ME

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Sore he tobi tatou

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Mou mayowa nai de

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Anata ga ite kureru kara

--TAKE A CHANCE

--BELIVE IN MYSELF

At first, the flight was going great. Pidgeot carried the three on its back, happilly soaring along the air currents. Meanwhile, Rosa, now a bit used to flying, was calm; in front of her was an ecstaticly glancing all-around Jin; and behind her was a scared-sless Hiromi, who was clutching onto Rosa for dear life, especially since she sat very near the tail. Then, Pidgeot started to get a bit tired, carrying three people on its back, and began to strain a little. Jin was looking left and right a bit less enthusiastically. Rosa had to both keep an eye on her temporary pokémon and on Hiromi, who, now that things had slowed down, began to try and tire or anger Pidgeot by moving and shaking about vigourously--rocking the boat. Rosa growled, looked back, and glared at her, causing her to stop with an innocent look on her face. Then, Pidgeot got its energy back, and was flying far and fast and high again, with Jin happilly experiencing the marvels of flight.

After a time, the four reached Mt. Moon. There were some dangerous-looking crags below. Pidgeot was getting a little tired, so Rosa said, "Jin, I think we should go back down and let Pidgeot rest for a little while."

Jin sighed and nodded. "Yeah, alright," he said, a little sorry the ride would be over soon.

Hiromi grinned maliciously. She began to sway a bit. "Oh-OOOH! I think I'm starting to slip!!" she cried semi-sarcastically.

Rosa looked over her shoulder and gawked at her. "Hiromi! What do you think you're--" she began.

Suddenly, Hiromi fell to the side. "AAAAAHHH!!" she cried. She made sure to keep her legs TIGHT around Pidgeot.

Rosa almost reached after for her when she realized something. Instead of leaning the exact same way, she went the OTHER way. Hanging upside down, she looked over at Hiromi, who was hanging for dear life by her legs, slipping a little. "Nice try, idiot," smirked Rosa.

Hiromi just sweatdropped, panikedly screaming, "JUST PULL ME UP, ALREADY!!"

Rosa smirked more. "If I do that, I'll put too much weight over Pidgeot's side, and it'll roll over. You wouldn't want Jin to meet a bad fate, would you?"

Hiromi yelped and slipped, being caught by Pidgeot's talons. She grumbled and crossed her arms, saying nothing in defeat.

Rosa grinned and pulled herself up. "Wow, this is a beautiful view!" Jin exclaimed. "I've got to thank you for catching this Pidgeot--he's absolutely phenomenal!"

'He? How can he tell?' But Rosa just grinned and patted her pokémon. "Aw, thanks, from both of us!" she said.

Pidgeot just smiled tiredly back at the two.

(--O--)

(--)FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

(--)Anata to futari dattara

(--)FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

(--)Nani mo kowaku wa nai kara

Pidgeot landed and let off his passengers, then sat down and panted. They were on a ledge on Mt. Moon, nearby the city. Jin sighed and looked happily at the pokémon. "Wow, I wish I had a pokéball to catch a Pidgeot with," he sighed.

Hiromi was a little mad from her first plan to make Rosa look bad being foiled. She went over to Jin and said, "But you can just ask your nice father to buy some for you, can't you?"

Rosa growled. 'Great, there she goes again!' she thought furiously. 'I've got to get into the conversation and keep her from being such a...such a witch!!'

"""OSU!!"""

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Shippai shi tatte ii ja nai

--GO ANOTHER PLACE

--TAKE IT EASY

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Sore he tobi tatou

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Mou mayowa nai de

--FLY AWAY, FLY AWAY

--Anata ga ite kureru kara

--TAKE A CHANCE

--BELIVE IN MYSELF

(The Ouendan somehow had kept up with them and had moved, packs and all, to the edge of the ledge. Dratini was left to guard them while they cheered for Rosa.) At first, it was a bit rough going for Rosa. She couldn't say very much in the conversation, and Hiromi, whose skill was talking more than it was Rosa's(the fact she was a thousand times more familiar with Japanese than the American helped on the preppy-looking girl's part), was getting in a fair amount of things. It could've been worse, though. (And, as the Ouendan were just a little tired from climbing up there with trademark inhuman speed, it got worse, since they lagged a bit(50's).) Suddenly, Rosa just was left helpless as Hiromi and Jin spoke together, too fast for Rosa to comprehend at the moment. After an agonizing couple seconds, Rosa steeled herself and jumped into the conversation, starting to talk as animatedly and well as she could. Jin smiled and happilly talked with her more and more, and Hiromi was the one to be blocked out this time.

After talking for a while, Rosa asked, "Hey, why CAN'T you ask your dad to get you pokéballs?"

Jin shook his head sadly. "It's because he wants me to take over his business, which means I've got to stay home," he answered. "I actually have wanted to be a trainer for an age."

Hiromi said, "But trainers don't make a lot of money, and they're always travelling around and stuff." She took a breath to say more, but Rosa cut in.

"Yeah, it's a great lifestyle, one that lets you see all SORTS of cool places, people, and pokémon!" she said, smiling and looking in the distance as she imagined it. "It's a lot more interesting than staying around boring ol' Pewter City all your life behind a desk, that's for sure."

Hiromi blinked, about to say something else, when Jin said, "Rosa-chan's right, Hiromi-chan, being a trainer is a lot more interesting than managing a company. A lot less hectic, too," he added.

Rosa gasped and smiled that she wasn't being called by her last name anymore. She then smiled at Hiromi's fuming face. 'That oughtta shut her up on the tries to convince him to let her mooch off of him!'

(--O--)

The group, after Pidgeot was all rested, decided to go home. But fate, for whatever reason, had another, final obstacle in the way of Rosa and her friend Pidgeot. Hiromi decided to, as they passed over a small forest she knew was full of Beedrill, throw a stone, which she'd picked up from the ledge, over down there. "You know, I don't think I like this big rock I was gonna carry home anymore," she said nonchalantly as she threw it down there. Quickly, a swarm of Beedrill flew up, angry at being disturbed. Hiromi put her hand to her mouth. "My, I wonder what got THEM all mad?" she wondered aloud.

Looking over her shoulder, Rosa squaked. "YEAH, ME TOO!!" she screamed, half-hysterical and half-angry, having an idea what happened.

The Ouendan, getting to a place between the spot they had a feeling she'd land at and the forest, skidded and nodded to each other before giving one last """OSU!!""" to the American.

--WANNA FEEL, WANNA FEEL, WANNA FEEL LIKE A BIRD

--WANNA FEEL, WANNA FEEL, WANNA FEEL LIKE A BIRD

While the group did their routine to the brief ending part of the song, Rosa had to contend with keeping everyone focused on staying as flat against Pidgeot as they could so that he could outfly the Bug-types. At first, it was a little hard, since Jin was a bit over-enthralled with the exhiliration of the chase to be sensible and Hiromi was purposefully sitting up and trying to slow down Pidgeot in a last-ditch effort to make Rosa look bad. Pidgeot was going as fast as he could, but still could see the Beedrill behind him pretty well. Then, in a determined burst of energy, Rosa grabbed Jin with her right hand and Hiromi with her left, then slammed herself and the two down against Pidgeot to keep them down to reduce air resistance. She hung on with her legs. Pidgeot, now a lot more aerodynamic, flew at top-speed, frequently folding his wings as he dashed through the skies and causing him to look like a bullet. On top of him, Jin looked like he had some more sense, now, and stayed down. Hiromi was, of course, struggling hard to break Rosa's grip, but couldn't move an inch from her burst of strength.

After a while of escaping the bee pokémon, Rosa decided that it'd be wise to gain more speed by diving. "Pidgeot! Dive down to gain more speed!" she commanded.

Pidgeot nodded and consented. Jin whooped in delight--"Like a roller coaster without a track!" he described--while Hiromi was hanging on for dear life. Suddenly, she began to fly off. At the last second, Rosa grabbed her with her legs, holding the sides of Pidgeot to keep on. Hiromi looked confusedly at this, but couldn't focus long as Pidgeot sprang his wings open to swoop along. He trailed Hiromi behind him, clutching to Rosa's legs with a deathgrip, from sheer speed. Above, the Beedrill faded off into nothingness.

Rosa and Jin looked back and cheered. "We lost them!!" Rosa cried.

"Amazing!!" Jin complimented. Then he noticed Hiromi and cocked his head. "Uh, Hiromi-chan? Why are you hanging on to Rosa-chan's legs like that?" he asked, confusedly.

Hiromi anger-veined, her face going red. "OH, NEVER MIND!!" she cried.

Rosa held back a laugh.

Later, the three finally landed, and the sun was starting to set. Rosa, Hiromi, and Jin stood together outside Jin's house. Pidgeot was in his ball, resting. Jin smiled and bowed to the two. "Thank you, Rosa-chan, for bringing me on such a great adventure today," he said. "And you, Hiromi-chan, for coming along, despite how much I see you dislike flying."

Hiromi sweat-dropped. "Ah, what made you think I disliked flying?" she asked, chuckling nervously.

Jin smiled at her. "Nothing," he lied. He chuckled. "I had a fun day today, thank you both. I hope that tomorrow will be good, too." He was about to say good-bye when Hiromi stepped over.

"May I sleep over?" she asked, still hoping she'll get to play with whatever cool stuff he had.

Jin sighed and shook his head. "Hiromi-chan, I'm sorry, but no," he answered. "I need to talk with my father tonight."

Hiromi gaped, then shut her mouth and asked, "Could I possibly sleep over some other time?"

Jin frowned at her. "...You know, I've been getting this feeling you care more about the fact I'm a rich kid than the fact I'm a person, Hiromi-chan," he said, crossing his arms and looking disapprovingly at her.

Hiromi paled. "What...gave...you...THAT...idea...?" she said slowly.

Jin gave her a half-eyed eyebrow raise. "I'm clueless, but not THAT clueless," he told her. "Please, Hiromi-chan, I like you and still think you a friend, but could you please stop being so materialistic and shallow?" He looked sympathetically at her.

Hiromi frowned, then looked down in shame. "I'm sorry, Miyagi..."

Jin smiled and said it's alright, then turned as Rosa asked, "Do you...Do you consider ME a friend?" She was a little pensive-looking.

Jin grinned, eyes closed. "Well, of COURSE I do, Rosa-chan!!" he replied. "You're fun, playful, and brave! That's great in a girl, or any person!" He opened his eyes and smiled. "I'll admit, I was a bit wary about you because I'm not used to Americans, but I guess I've been a bit shallow, myself. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad." He bowed to her as he apologized.

Rosa blushed and felt a bit bad. "Oh, you don't have to apologize...Jin-chan," she replied.

Jin smiled and looked up again. "No, I feel I should. It's just I've always thought of American women as, well...slutty," he confessed, saying the word in a soft voice. "You, on the other hand, are kind and caring, not at all overbearing!"

Rosa grinned and posed a bit. "Well, guess that just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover!" she said, and the three laughed.

"Well, good-bye, Rosa-chan and Hiromi-chan!" Jin said after a moment, and turned to go inside.

As he left, Hiromi looked at Rosa, scowled, then sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry I've been acting like a bitch," she said. "I just was a bit obsessed about getting to play with some cool stuff I can't afford, like 58-inch plasma-screen tvs, every game console ever...I kinda didn't want you to steal him from me."

Rosa smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Hiromi," she said. "I know how the temptation of money works on all of us, or I'm not American!"

The two laughed at this.

WANNA FEEL, WANNA FEEL, WANNA FEEL LIKE A BIRD...

- - -

The next day shows Rosa and Pidgeot, who decided to stay with her, flying along, with Jin and Hiromi on his back. They were flying over Pewter City in the daytime. Hiromi looks a little subdued, but happy. Jin is grinning from ear to ear. Pidgeot is smiling with pride as he looks up at Rosa, who is happilly smiling with her hair flying behind her, looking like she's laughing.

-:-:-

Kioshi and the others watched the four in the air as they set out from the Pokémon Center. Smiling at each other, they nodded.

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

-

-

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

-

--

---

As they did their little "mission complete" thing, Dratini squealed and jumped up and down. After they were done, Kioshi smiled and knelt down, letting Dratini leap into his arms. "Heh, thanks, Dratini," he said. "Now, c'mon, why don't we go on?"

"Ni!" Dratini agreed.

So, the party set out from Pewter City. As soon as they were outside it, though, something happened.

''KIOSHI!!''

"WAARGH!!" Kioshi squaked as he heard the cry in his head, surprised off-balance. He waved his arms around, then got his balance back. He looked around confusedly. "What the--?! Did one of you guys just say something to me?" he asked, looking at a puzzled Hibiki and Suzu. They shook their heads. "Thought not...Well, this world DOES have active psychics..." Kioshi looked around. "Whoever that was, what?" he called.

''You don't have to shout like that, Kioshi! You'll make a fool of yourself outside of cheering!''

Kioshi gasped. "No way!! D...Doumeki-sama?!" he breathed.

''Yes, it is I. Before you ask, no, I can't tell you how I'm doing this, not now. There's not much time left. I just wanted to ask you one important question: Have you noticed anything unusual while you're cheering?''

Kioshi thought a moment. "...No, daresay I haven't, but then, I haven't been really focused on doing more than cheering as best as I possibly can," he replied. He turned to the other two. "Have either of you two felt anything strange while we've been cheering these past couple times?"

They shook their heads. "Why?" Suzu asked.

''Because there's some big trouble afoot,'' answered Doumeki. Kioshi raised his eyebrows.

"What KIND of trouble?" he asked.

''One that's very vulnrable to salt. I've got to go now, the episode's almost over. Good luck on all of you! And I'll try and find a way to contact all three of you instead of just you, Kioshi, as soon as I can. Just find the Elite Beat Agents as fast as you can! Farewell!''

And he was gone.

Kioshi frowned, then looked at the others. "What kind of trouble is vulnrable to salt?" he asked.

Hibiki shrugged. "I dunno, a swarm of giant slugs?" he suggested.

Suzu sighed. "Let's not dwell on it, and just get going, alright?" she asked.

The other two nodded, then the group left. Dratini happilly slithered alongside Kioshi, who had bowed his head in thought.

------------

You know, for now, I'm not gonna even try a note chart. I can only do them by drawing them for deviantART, anyway, and I'm too lazy at the moment...Well, anywho, hope y'all likey!!


	14. happiness! ! !

(14)( ) (Feel) (Your) (Happiness)

Kioshi and company traveled along until they went into Mt. Moon. There, they found it pretty dark. So dark, they couldn't see where they were going.

"Uh, guys?" Hibiki asked, a little not-so-brave.

""What?""

"We kinda need a light..."

Kioshi thought a moment. "Yeah, you're right, otherwise we can't find our way through," he agreed. He looked to Dratini, or at least where he last saw her, by his left side. "Dratini?"

"Dra?" came her small voice from his right.

Kioshi huffed shortly in annoyance and then looked right. "You wouldn't happen to know...uh..." He reached for the word.

"Flash?" Hibiki supplied.

"Yeah, Flash, would you?" finished Kioshi. "Thanks, Hibiki."

Dratini cocked her head, then closed her eyes, making her world even darker. "Draaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." she droned softly. Slowly, what looked like her ears began to become illuminated. After a few seconds, Dratini opened her eyes and shouted, "TINI!!" At once, her ears and forehead-ball shone brightly, and the group could see ahead. A big shadow projected from Dratini's hat, though, to the ceiling.

The group smiled and thanked her. "You're an amazing pokémon, Dratini!" Kioshi praised.

"Dra! Tini!!" Dratini chirped happilly.

The group moved along and, thanks to the light of Flash, was able to see their way around the dark cave and avoid any startling zubat that flew their way. After a while, they finally made it out to the other side. They decided then, since it was pretty dark now and they were both tired and had a fair ways to go until they reached Cerulean, to set up camp. They slept fitfully, and got off to a good start the next morning, having a nice breakfast of fruits they found around the place.

However, as they passed by another cave they saw around the entrance to Cerulean, the group suddenly picked up another "in-trouble" signal. They looked ahead at Cerulean, at each other, and then ahead again. They nodded and set off running full-tilt, Dratini again clutching Kioshi's leg for dear life.

-----

At a house near the edge of Cerulean, the sun is shining bright and warm, while a cool breeze flutters the pale blue curtains of the western window. A woman stood by it, a depressed look on her face. She had light brown hair tied in a bun, a round face, light blue eyes, a teal shirt, green jeans, and a dark blue apron with pink flowers embroidered in the upper-right corner of the top pocket on it. She wore only light blush and faint lipstick. "Oh," she said, propping her elbow on the white sill and holding her head on it, "why do I feel so empty right now? It's making me feel like doing nothing at all..." She gave a wry smile. "Good thing today's my day off."

(Kuroki Nozomi, 24, housewife and bike shop assistant)

"Nozomi-chan!" called a male voice. Nozomi turned and saw, with a small smile on her face. A man was entering the house looking a bit flustered. He had a brown coat, ruffled red hair, green eyes, a short goatee, and an office outfit on under the coat.

"Masa-kun!" Nosomi called back, going over. "What is it?"

Masa gave a shaky smile. "Well, uh, I...sort of said that I'd do something for a friend at work," he said.

Nozomi felt her heart sink. 'Uh-oh...' "What?" she asked.

Masa grinned uneasilly. "Well, he volunteers at an orphanage, and he said he'd really like it if someone adopted more often, and I...well..." He paused and looked down, away from his wife. "I felt bad, so I...I said that I'd adopt."

Nozomi reeled back in shock. "Wh-Wh-Wh-WHAAAT?!" she cried, raising a hand up to heighten her expression. "Are you CRAZY?!"

Masa just plowed right on. "There were two there that looked really lonly and cute, and easy to take care of, and I couldn't resist! I said that we're alone and have been talking about adopting anyway..."

Nozomi clenched her fists. "We never got serious, though!!" she protested.

Masa sweatdropped and waved his hands defensively. "Yeah, yeah, b-but really, I couldn't refuse...and the two kids are here now...out in the car..." He glanced to his right, twoards the door. Nozomi saw a car parked outside.

Nozomi blanched. "Already?!" she cried. "But...it's my day off!"

Masa sweatdropped even further. "And the worst part is...well...as you may remember..." He pointed to a calender on the wall. Nozomi looked and saw a day--that day--circled, with an arrow pointing across three days. Her jaw dropped. "Today, I've got to go on my business trip!" Masa finished. He picked up the breifcase that was behind him. "You're going to have to stay in the house for three days until I return so that you can watch the kids. I'm sorry, I really am--I promise to make it up to you when I get back!!" He quickly smooched her on the cheek and started out the door. "Good-bye and good luck!!" he called.

Nozomi was stunned as she stood there. 'He adopted?! TWO?! ALL BY MYSELF?!! I never paid any attention in Health class on THIS!!'

"Hello?"

Nozomi looked down and saw two adorable little children by her. One was a boy, who looked about 5, was wearing a yellow-and-orange striped t-shirt, blue shorts, and black sneakers, had big, bright, teal eyes, and wore short, tidy, black hair. He had a grey knapsack with his stuff in it and held a stuffed Ursaring in his hand. The other was a girl, who looked around 3, had the same color hair and eyes as the boy--her hair kept in a red ribbon--and wore a grey messenger bag with her belongings, a cream long-sleeve shirt, a green miniskirt, long white socks, and pink sneakers. She held a few dolls in her arms. They both looked up at her with curious, scared, and downright shamelessly adorable puppy-dog-eyed faces. "Yes?" Nozomi asked gently.

"Are you our new mommy?" the boy asked.

Nozomi nodded. "I-I guess...?" she said.

The boy and girl smiled. "Okay!" the boy said. "I am Ryuichi, and this is Aiko, my little sister! Thank you so much for adopting us!" He grinned and then, without warning, the two began to zoom around, looking the place over. "Where's our room?" Nozomi heard Ryuichi ask.

Nozomi squaked as their dashing around the house knocked things over, displaced chairs, left cupboards open, and other things to make the house messy. Nozomi was frozen in place as she watched her house being wrecked before finally shouting, "STOOOOOOP!!"

Instantly, the two children stopped, and, a bit irate and not really taking the time to think, Nozomi stormed over and yelled, "Look, this is MY house, and if you're going to be living in it, you'd better stop messing it up, you little--" But she stopped when she saw the classic buildup-to-bawling in their faces. When they started, Nozomi sweatdropped. 'Whoops...' She tried to soothe them. "P-Please, don't cry, I'm sorry, please, I didn't mean to scare you, please, stop crying, please..." But to no avail. She tried reaching out to put a hand on them, but they, in a frightening blow, reared away and retreated to the farthest corner of the room.

Nozomi was shattered. 'Oh, no, my goodness...what have I done? I just scared them senseless! I'm supposed to be taking care of them...how can I do it for three days...ALONE?!' Her eyes glazed over as she imagined her husband pointing at her accusingly, saying that he should divorce her for what she's done. She shivered and fell to her knees. "I CAN'T do this alone!!" she muttered, shaking more. "But...I...must..."

She fell onto her hands as well and grabbed the carpet as she began. "O...O..." Then, whipping her head up to the ceiling, she cried,

**"OUENDAAAAAAAAN!!"**

-----

The three Ouendan watched the situation from the western window that Nozomi was just at. They knew what was to come as soon as she had yelled at the children for running around the house. Kioshi told Dratini to, again, watch the stuff, while he, Suzu, and Hibiki got in through the window.

They stood and waited for a few moments. In the meantime, Hibiki set to picking up fallen books, Suzu was righting a chair nearby, and Kioshi was--with Dratini--readjusting the carpet. When they heard the cry, the song began and they stopped what they were doing and looked up.

**-:-Housewife Woes! Crash Course in Parenting!!-:-**

(-)Kuru kuru, kuru kuru

(-)Kuru kuru, kuru kuru

(-)Kuru kuru, kuru kuru

(-)Kuru kuru, kuru kuru

Nozomi and the kids didn't notice them, apparantly. Nozomi got up and tried to soothe the kids again. "Please, I'm not trying to be scary! Stop crying, please!!" she begged. Still, nothing would work. She sweatdropped. 'What am I going to do to get them to stop crying??' she wondered.

"""OSU!!""" went the three Ouendan from behind her.

Instantly, flames appeared to leap all around her as she determinedly tightened her apron. The Ouendan skidded into place as the music went to the place they'd begin.

"""IKOIYA!...SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!!"""

-Itsumo ima mo donna toki mo

-Shiawase ni dakarete itai

-Chippoke na kono kimochi

-Wakaru desho yea-ah!!

-Asa mo hiru mo yoru mo ima mo

-Kanjiru mono ga tarinai nara

-Setsunaku nante naranaide

-Me wo tojite sotto kiite

Kimura Kaela's "happiness!!!" was the song the Ouendan cheered to while Nozomi decided to try and act silly to get the kids to laugh. At first, she was still unsure how to do this, and was just dancing around and not doing much. The kids were still crying, but not as much as they watched. Then, the drive to do a good job with the kids and to get through this got her to start wildly prancing about, making funny faces and doing silly motions. The kids started laughing and clapping at her. Suddenly, however, Nozomi tripped and fell, throwing her off a bit. When she got up, a little flustered, she went right to just making faces and stamping in a way she hoped would be silly. This didn't work, and made the kids start to cry again. Nozomi shook her head and got back to what she'd been doing before she fell, and the children were instantly laughing again.

After a bit, Nozomi said, "This is it!!" Then, with a flip, she, well, flopped, then rolled back like a rocking horse, arcing her body to do so, and then turned to do an arch, where she stuck her tounge out and let it hang down to her face. The children found this hilarious, and started clapping wildly. Nozomi smiled and got up, panting. "Do you guys forgive me?" she asked, holding her head. They nodded and smiled.

---(**O**)---

(-)Mekubase shiteru

(-)Anata ga

(-)Toru ni taranai jinsei demo

Later on that afternoon, after they were sitting down to watch television, Ryuichi and Aiko said they were hungry. "Well, what would you like?" asked Nozomi tenderly.

""I'M HUNGRY!!"" they merely screeched back, and Nozomi squaked and scuttled to the kitchen.

'But I don't know what they like!!' she complained to herself as she went.

"""OSU!!"""

The flames erupted again, though, and with another tightening of her apron, Nozomi set to work.

-Dreaming and singing laughing

-Crying and dancing

-Falling in love

-Subete ga chippoke na tsumi kasane

-Atsumetara todoku to omou no

-Kimi to onaji toki wa itsumo meguru

Thinking to make something somewhat fancy and nutritious, Nozomi started off with cooking some rice on high for maximum speed of making, cutting apples into wedges, and mixing juice for them. She moved somewhat frantically from each one, doing a little of this and a little of that, handling the three. Then, at one point, for a brief moment, the rice began to boil over and she had to tend to that, but also, their pet Meowth, smelling food, snuck in and tried to swipe an apple slice, so she had to go to that, and the juice wouldn't make itself!! But then, just as quickly, the housewife got her act together and was balancing each one smoothly and confidently, cutting apples, making juice, and checking the rice without worry.

A few minutes later, the kids were getting restless. "Lunchtime!" called Nozomi, hoping that this would work. She brought in a pair of plates. The children came over to see what she had, and gasped. Each plate had a glass of juice, a few apple wedges, and a warm rice ball, each perfectly made. No frozen chunks in the juice, evenly-cut and clean apple, and not a single brown grain of rice. They eagerly took them and began scarfing down. "What do you say?" asked Nozomi.

""THANK YOU!!"" said the two with full mouthes. Nozomi wiped her forehead. 'They like it!' she thought, relieved.

---(**O**)---

(-)(Intsrumental)

Later on, nothing good was on television, so the kids decided to play tag around the house...rather rambunctiously. Nozomi squeeked as she saw them dash by an old Ming vase. "EEK! Guys, guys, guys! Be careful!!" she told them.

"""OSU!!"""

With fire in her soul, Nozomi went about supervising the two.

-Itsumo ima mo donna toki mo

-Umaku tsutaerarenai kedo

-Chotto shita tokoro ni

-Me wo mukeru no mo daiji ja nai

-Tsumetai machi ni

-Uchinomesaretara

-Anata ja nakunaru wa

-Dreaming and singing laughing

-Crying and dancing

-Falling in love

-Subete ga chippoke na tsumi kasane

-Atsumetara todoku to omou no

-Kimi to onaji toki wa itsumo meguru

At first, the kids were playing carefully under the watchful eye of Nozomi, and having a blast. Then, Nozomi started to lose focus a little bit and had to catch them whenever they started doing something bad, in this case mainly run by the vase and jump on chairs. Then, however, things slipped out of control, and Nozomi had to dive to save the vase, put it back, reset a chair, and then dive back to the vase, while the kids went wild and shook the house. But then, with determination, Nozomi stood and watched them carefully like before.

After a while, the two were really close to a tag, and both weren't watching where they went. Ryuichi was the one to be tagged, and his little sister was it, and both were heading towards the vase. Nozomi meeped and grabbed the vase before it was hit, lifting it up out of the way. Then, as she set it down, she glanced and saw they were now about to slam headlong into the entertainment center full of the tv, dvd player, radio, and other things that wouldn't be quite safe to ram into. "LOOK OUT!!" she cried, and quickly skidded in front of them. She caught them just in time. Holding their heads up to her, she warned, "If you two want to play around like this, watch out, or you'll get hurt," as kindly as she could.

The two looked up at her and nodded. "Okay," said Aiko, who then tagged her brother and ran off.

"Hey!!" Ryuichi said, and scampered after her.

Nozomi couldn't help but smile after them.

---(**O**)---

(-)(Kickin' piano solo)

Nighttime finally arrived, and, since they shared a room with beds beside one another, Nozomi tucked them both in at once. "Good night, you two!" she said sweetly.

"Bedtime story!" Aiko squeaked. Ryuichi echoed her.

Nozomi sweatdropped. "Uh...O...kay..." 'Kids love acting, something I'm not good at...and I hate kids' books...'

"""OSU!!"""

Nozomi, though, tightened her apron once more and grabbed a book.

The Ouendan looked at each other, nodded, and finished out.

-Kyou wo norikoeraretara

-Ashita datte onaji hazu deshou

-Dreaming and singing laughing

-Crying and dancing

-Falling in love

-Subete ga chippoke na tsumi kasane

-Atsumetara todoku to omou no

-Kimi to onaji toki wa itsumo meguru

-Dreaming and singing laughing

-Crying and dancing

-Falling in love

-Subete ga chippoke na tsumi kasane

-Atsumetara todoku to omou no

-Kimi to onaji toki wa itsumo meguru

-(Yea-eah-eah!)

-Chiisakutemo sukui you ga aru no!!

-(Yea-eah!)

-Kanjite onegai

-Anata no happiness!!!

At first, Nozomi was reading just mildly, really not liking having to read kids' books(the kids just listened with a neutral expression), not painting much of a picture. She even got to the point where she was reading rather blandly, and the kids were frowning at her lack of enthusiasm. However, shaking her head, Nozomi got on the ball and began doing motions and acting out voices, painting a great picture with words. The kids were listening with smiles on their faces.

Finally, the kids went to sleep. Nozomi tucked them back in gently, smiling. 'You know, this isn't as hard as it looks,' she thought. 'And they're so precious...'

The day for Masa's return arrived. Masa stepped into the house and looked around. "Wow, everything's still intact," he muttered in amazement. He then called. "Nozomi-chan?"

"MASA-CHAN!!" Nozomi cried, running to him and hugging him. "Oh, I've missed you so much! How was the trip?" she asked.

"Good," Masa said automatically, looking into the living room. "Where are the kids? Could you handle it alone?"

Nozomi smiled and led him into the kitchen. On a table there, Ryuichi and Aiko were putting together a puzzle. ""Mommy!!"" they said together in joy when they saw her.

Nozomi smiled and showed them her husband. "This is Masa, my husband and your daddy, if you don't know his name yet," she introduced.

""Hi!""

Masa smiled impressedly. "Nozomi-chan!" he said, surprised, and looked at her. "I didn't think you could do it!"

Nozomi smiled and held a finger up. "Well, it was hard the first day, but after I passed that with flying colors, the next two were a breeze," she told him.

Masa smiled. "So, do you want to keep them?" he asked.

Nozomi grinned and nodded. "Of course!! I finally realize what's been missing..." She looked to the two doing the puzzle together. "They're what make me feel complete, and I never realized it before."

"Nozomi-chan..." Masa said softly, amazed. He smiled and hugged her. "I was hoping you'd say that!! For all this wonderful work, I think you deserve something extra-special..." He smiled and dug into his coat pocket as he drew away. He brought out two tickets, and Nozomi gasped.

"Tickets to 'Gardivoir of the Wind'?!" she excitedly wispered. She then hugged and kissed him. "Oh, thank you!!"

Masa grinned and kissed back. "You deserve it!!" he said back.

The kids watched, then went, ""Eeeeewww!!"" Masa and Nozomi looked at them and laughed.

(-)Kuru kuru, kuru kuru

(-)Kuru kuru, kuru kuru

(-)Kuru kuru, kuru kuru

(-)Kuru kuru...

- - -

That night, Nozomi and Masa were dressed up and out in a theatre, watching a play that was unseen to the "camera." Nozomi is smiling and thinking of the kids, playing in together with a babysitter while they were out. She looks totally at peace and in bliss, as if the weight of the world was off of her shoulders.

-:-:-

Of course, after seeing the couple kissing from a window, the Ouendan nodded to each other and began.

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

-

-

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

-

--

---

"That was interesting," said Hibiki as the group picked up their packs to leave.

"Yeah, helping a woman with no parenting skills take care of a couple of kids like that," Suzu agreed. "Don't do THAT every cheer."

Kioshi smiled. "I'm glad she didn't need our help the last two days," he said. Then he sighed, looking a little wistful.

"What's wrong?" Hibiki asked.

Kioshi shook his head. "I just miss my own mother and sister," he said. "That's all." He nodded and walked on to the way out of town. Dratini followed him.

Suzu and Hibiki followed. "We all miss our families, Kioshi," Suzu said. "We're going to get to them, though, as soon as we finally reach the Agents."

Kioshi nodded. "Let's hope that's soon," he said. "Especially what with that warning Doumeki-sama gave me...What could be dangerous that is weak against SALT?" he wondered.

They all decided not to think on it too much, though, at the moment, and move on. They'd lost a lot of time with that extra two days(though they knew they should make sure their client was fine). The afternoon sun bore down on them as the four made their way out of Cerulean City. They started their way towards where they agreed they would get to Sinnoh from: Vermillion City. Paying for the boat would be another problem that they'd face when they got to it.

-(-)-

Later that night, when the humans were asleep, camped out under a tree nearby a stream, Dratini slithered out for a bit, unable to sleep. She'd been feeling this strange sensation in her chest, and that had woken her up. Looking around underneath the moonlight, she saw that nobody was around, it appeared. But her chest feeling...it told her to go southwest from where she was. She did, going towards the stream. Once there, she still couldn't find anyone. But the feeling in her chest was immense. 'What's going on?' she thought, concerned.

Then, she heard a splashing sound, and what looked like a small dragon-shaped thing was coming towards her from upstream. She looked closer and saw it was a totodile, swimming along as fast as it could. "To-to-to-DIIIIILE!!" it cried frantically. "Somebody HEEEEELLP!!"

"Dra?" Dratini jumped into the river and caught the frightened water-type. "What's going on?" she asked.

Totodile shivered and pointed over his shoulder. "M-My friend, Teddiursa...he's in trouble! There's...There's a weird...THING there! It's like a big, red gastly without eyes or anything!"

"A will-o-wisp?" Dratini whispered. She knew, after staying with a human for a while, a little about spirits named by humans. She looked ahead, upstream. Indeed, a faint red glow entered her field of vision. "Oh, no! That can't be good!" she cried. "I'm pretty good at battling," she told the totodile. "I'll come with and help."

Totodile grinned and nodded. "Thank you, kind dratini!" he said. The two then quickly swam upstream.

Teddiursa yelped as a ghostly flame threatened him. He was hurt already, despite being a Normal-type. "Yikes! Hey, st-stop it!! Please!!" he cried.

The will-o-wisp made no sound, but threw more flames at the bear pokémon.

"TEDDIURSA!!"

Teddiursa ducked and looked to the stream. His face brightened when he saw Totodile. "Totodile!" he squealed, then cried as he was struck.

"NO!!" Totodile roared, searing towards his friend. Dratini followed suit. Totodile got up on shore and picked up his friend. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Teddiursa nodded, grunting as he got up on his own. "I think I'm burnt, though," he said. He held his arm, which had a singed look to it. "That thing's not using Ghost-type moves...but it's immune to all of ours...even Water-types..."

"Let me try!" Dratini said, determined look on her face as she looked at the creature. She slithered over, wondering if she could do this on her own. 'I've got to! I don't wanna wake up Kioshi now, he had a long day and needs to rest...' She got into position in front of the ghost-like creature. "You, big red will-o-wisp thing! Leave them alone!" she commanded.

The will-o-wisp said nothing and tried to hit her with fire. She leapt aside skillfully and then, knowing it wouldn't listen to her anyway, fired off an attack she knew, Poison Sting. (Note: I dunno what attacks Dratini can use in-game, so I'm just making it up as I go along.) The attack sailed through the spirit, which didn't so much as flinch. "Darn!" she said as she dodged a flame. "Okay, try..." she jumped up, tail glowing as she stiffened it, "...THIS!!" She slammed the tail down and struck the spirit...well, struck the surface but went right through. She landed and barely managed to get away before she got hit by a barrage of flames. "Nothing works?!"

"I guess so!" Totodile said. "What are we going to do?" He looked worriedly at the rare pokémon.

"We tried running, and that didn't work unless one of us stayed behind..." Teddiursa said.

Dratini frowned for a moment, wondering the same thing. 'It's immune to everything we know...' she thought. 'Maybe it's immune to something that's supposed to destroy spirits without using moves? Think!! What IS it?' She thought and thought, dodging, and was starting to get tired. 'THINK!!'

"There are dangerous things in this world, whether people like to belive it or not, that aren't natural," she remembered Linda saying.

"Dra?" she had said. They had been in Linda's house. It was night, and they'd just heard a loud noise that had scared Dratini.

Linda nodded. "They say that evil spirits lurk at night around the world. They seek revenge against life for whatever it did to them when they were with it. They're powerful, and immune to pokémon moves, except for a very scant few attacks that use spiritual energy--like Aura Sphere, though that's the only one I can think of right now."

Dratini raised her eyeridges. "Either of you know Aura Sphere or know someone who does around here?" she shouted to the two boys.

Totodile and Teddiursa looked at each other, then shook their heads sadly. "No, sorry, Miss Dratini," Teddiursa said. "We don't."

Dratini growled. 'Dang! What else did she say?'

Dratini moved closer to Linda as she spoke. "Drat?" she asked. "What else?"

Linda nodded. "Yeah, it's true," she said. "But humans have lived for all these years without succumbing to the evil of those spirits. We've figured out how to defeat many supernatural horrors. Crosses, garlic, and a wooden stake through the heart can destroy vampires--since, sadly, the Vampire Killer's only in a video game--silver is able to kill werewolves, and sunlight can at least drive off most evil. But, as a precaution, it's a common practice to use a certain substance to protect places from evil spirits. It's used in food, actually, and is found a lot in the ocean. Can you guess what?" Linda smiled.

Dratini gasped as she remembered as she picked up something off the table with her tail and Linda said that was it. "NO WAY!!" she cried out loud, nearly stopping to a dead halt.

""What?!"" cried Teddiursa and Totodile.

Dratini looked up at the will-o-wisp. "It's evil spirits! THEY'RE the dangerous thing that's vulnrable to salt!!" she shouted in realization. 'Oh, I wish I could tell Kioshi and the others!!'

The two T-pokémon blinked, then looked at each other. ""Salt??"" they repeated.

Dratini smirked (though it was unseen) as she saw the will-o-wisp jar back a little bit, as if caught off guard. "We need to get some, fast!" she said, then began to slither off as fast as she could. "Come on! Kioshi's got some! Follow me!" she called over her...back, since she had no real shoulder.

Totodile and Teddiursa followed her into the water, Teddiursa riding on Totodile's back. They swam fast, the will-o-wisp behind them. The current assisted them as they went along. Dratini looked behind her as she saw the will-o-wisp. 'We'll get you, big jerk,' she thought. Finally, they got up onto the shore near where the Ouendan slept still. Dratini told Totodile to occupy the spirit while she got some salt. While that went on, she crept over to Kioshi's pack. She opened it as softly as she could and looked around inside it for some salt.

"Uuuhh..."

She froze instinctively and looked. Hibiki was turning over in his sleep. "Mmmm...pancakes..." he muttered sleepilly.

Dratini sighed in relief. "Phew," she whispered, then resumed digging around. She found it, and just in time, too. Grabbing the shaker with her mouth, she turned and slithered back down to Totodile, who was getting tired. "Totodile! You've got paws, so take this!" she said, and tossed it to him.

Totodile looked back and saw it come towards him. He grabbed the shaker by jumping up into the air. Then he landed and looked at it. "Uuuh..." he said, then sweatdropped and looked to Dratini helplessly. "How do I use this?" he asked.

Dratini groaned and said, "Swing it with the shiny side out as if you were swinging a stick or something!"

Totodile nodded and tried. He got it right, and a spray of salt came out. Teddiursa squeaked when a grain got in his eye. "OOOWW!! CAREFUL!!" he roared in his little voice, clutching it.

Totodile sweatdropped again. "Sorry, friend!" he said, then yelped as he dodged another attack. "Okay, fiend, take THIS!" he said, swinging it at it. Everyone knew that it worked when a white light came from the place that Totodile hit the will-o-wisp. "Yes!"

Dratini looked over to her human friends. "I hope we don't wake them up," she mumbled.

Totodile kept swinging and swinging at it, and the will-o-wisp slowly sank down, dimming, until it was on the ground as dark as a dying ember. Totodile stood over the vanquished foe, took a look at it, then poured a bit of salt on top of it. It glowed white and appeared to thrash about until finally, it...vanished. Into thin air.

Dratini, Teddiursa, and Totodile, who stopped pouring the salt, jumped for joy and cheered, then remembered that there were people sleeping. Dratini smiled and came over. "Thanks, you two," she said. "I can't wait until I evolve into a Dragonite...arms are so useful, am I right?" The other two nodded.

"Thank YOU for helping us," Teddiursa said, smiling. "If it weren't for you, we would probably be really hurt...or worse," he gulped, grimacing.

Totodile grinned and gave back the salt shaker. "Yeah...Did you hear me calling for help, or what?" he wondered.

Dratini shrugged by arching her back up and down. "I was trying to sleep, but before I could, I felt this odd feeling in my chest that kept me up. I got up, and it sort of told me to go to the stream." She looked to where she went to. "I went there, then saw you coming down here. So I guess it was instinct that told me to come." She looked back at the two. "I'm glad you're safe. Teddiursa, are you going to be fine with that burn?" she asked.

Teddiursa nodded. "Yeah, I'll live," he said. "It'll just take a few days, that's all."

"I don't know if we've got Burn Heal with us or not," Dratini said. "We're halfway between Cerulean and the next human town...If you want, I'll see if I can get Kioshi to know that you'd like to come with to a pokémon center, where they can heal you," she offered after a moment's thought.

Totodile looked a bit unsure, but Teddiursa gasped and smiled. "Really?" he asked. "Could I really come with? I've always wanted to go into a human town! But...I'm always afraid someone will want to try and catch me..."

Dratini smiled and shook her head. "If you travel with humans, they'll assume that you're theirs, but just outside your balls. Trust me--I'm actually still a wild pokémon, too!" She laughed at their surprised faces. "I just really...welllll..." She blushed.

Totodile grinned smugly and crossed his arms. "You've got a crush on that Kioshi kid, don't you?" he asked, and laughed when Dratini went a bit stiff. "Aw, don't worry, I remember hearing about a Chikorita--now a Bayleef--who had, or still has, a crush on her trainer. Just don't think it's going to go anywhere!! WHA-HA-HA!!"

Teddiursa smiled sheepishly. "I understand, Miss Dratini, I won't make fun of you," he said, and Totodile gave him a sideways look. Teddiursa gave one back, then nodded. "I'd love to come with you, Miss Dratini," he said, smiling. "If not just to get healed for my burn, then to sight-see."

Dratini nodded. "Alright, I'll try and tell Kioshi in the morning. Totodile?" she asked, looking at him. "You interested at all?"

Totodile frowned a little, but sighed and nodded. "I don't feel safe leaving Teddiursa alone...no offense to your human friends, Dratini!" he added hastilly, shaking his paws. "I just don't want to be alone for who knows how long. Besides, there might be some good food to be had along the way," he added, crossing his arms and nodding, eyes closed.

Dratini sweat-dropped at this. 'I should probably not mention the issue on food around here,' she mused. She nodded and smiled. "Then you might as well sleep with us for tonight, if you're tired," she said. "Will you?" she asked. They nodded. "Okay! Now, then, let's get to it, since I'm wicked tired." The other two agreed and they went over as quietly as they could to Kioshi. After Dratini put the salt back in the bag, she curled up by Kioshi while Totodile and Teddiursa slept nearby against a tree.

-(-)-

"What have we here?"

Dratini opened her eyes groggilly.

"A totodile and a teddiursa, by the looks of it."

'I wanna sleep some more...' she complained and closed them again.

"Wow, sleeping together like this in the open...easiest catch I'll ever make!"

"TI?!" Dratini's eyes shot open at this and she scrambled around to get up. She saw three guys standing there, one with a hat, another with glasses, and a third with wild, long hair. The one with a hat had taken out a pokéball. She saw a poochyena by the one with long hair. "TI-NII!!" she screeched and raced over to stop in front of them, body spread out defensively. "TI! Ti-NI!!" she cried.

The guy blinked in amazement. "A DRATINI?!" he asked. "No way! I guess this one's a bit fiesty, huh?" He chuckled.

The poochyena, understanding, nodded and barked up at the long-haired guy. The human nodded and crossed his arms. "Frank, Poochyena said that it's trying to protect its friends. At least from being unfairly captured, without having a proper battle first," he added after seeing the apprehending look on his friends' faces.

"Sorry, but Poochyena and Travis are right on this one, Frank," said the glasses-wearing guy, crossing his arms and nodding. "You should at least battle them first, like a normal trainer."

Frank pouted, scoffing. "Fine, Dorian, fine," he grumbled, and got out another ball. He looked down at Dratini and smirked. "You want to help them? Well, how about a battle, first?"

"Alright, I accept!"

The three turned to look at the Ouendan, being headed by Kioshi. "All that racket woke me up," he said. "And when I saw that you were threatening my Dratini friend, well, I had to do something!"

Dratini, and the now-awake Teddiursa and Totodile, sweat-dropped as they looked at him. """And we didn't wake him up?""" they asked in unison in their own language.

Frank raised an eyebrow. "Well, schoolboy, uh..." He looked him up and down. "Nice outfit, actually," he said after a bit.

Kioshi nodded and stepped behind Dratini. "We doing this or not?" he asked.

Frank scoffed. "In that case, never mind. I was hoping on an easy wild battle, but a trainer one? Naw, no thanks," he said.

"You'd lose no matter what, you know," Travis smirked.

Frank anger-veined. "Oh, hush, wolf boy," he spat back over his shoulder. "Like you'd have a better chance?"

Travis and Poochyena smirked and looked at them sideways. "Probably," Travis said.

"Sorry," added Poochyena to the other pokémon, who made motions it was alright.

Kioshi grunted, and attention returned to him. "Well, are YOU going to battle us?" he asked.

Travis smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he said. "Me and my Poochyena are friends like you and Dratini are, and I'm not sure I want to play for keeps. Besides, we've come here from Sinnoh to meet Dorian's folks in Cerulean, so we've really gotta go." He looked Kioshi up and down, too. "You know," he said, tilting his head, "you remind me of these three guys who really helped me out a week or so ago back in Sinnoh. The black and buttoned-up front are what's ringing bells."

Kioshi raised an eyebrow. "Who were they?" he asked. "What'd they do?"

Travis uncrossed his arms. "They called themselves the Elite Beat Agents, and they helped me...battle inner demons, we'll just say." He winked at his friends, who half-eyed him.

This caused the Ouendan, every one of them now awake, to drop their jaws and splutter, """THE ELITE BEAT AGENTS?!""" Dratini did something similar, since she knew what they wanted them for.

Travis raised an eyebrow at this. "What, know 'em?" he asked.

Kioshi shook his head. "No, but we will," he said. "Do you know if they're still in Sinnoh?" he asked.

Travis shrugged. "I guess they are," he said. "They left after helping me...and after I helped them back, too, the same night." He shrugged again. "I can't tell you much, 'cept they could do a pretty good cover of 'No Sleep Tonight.' Hope you guys get to them or whatever!" he called, and turned to leave.

"Thanks!" Dratini said to Poochyena as he left.

Poochenya smiled back. "No problem! May we meet again on better circumstances!"

Dratini nodded, then turned to Kioshi. He and the others were talking about the confirmation that yes, the EBA were in Sinnoh and were active. "Ti! Dri-ni!" she called.

Kioshi turned and looked down at her. "What is it, Dratini?" he asked kindly. Dratini pointed to the other two. "Oh? What about them?"

Dratini made various sounds, waving first at the two pokémon, then at Kioshi, then moved around a bit. 'Let's hope that works...'

Kioshi tilted his head. "Uuuuuhh...Wild guess, but do you want these two to come with us?" he asked.

Dratini bounced up and down in joy. "Ni! Ni!"

Kioshi smiled. "Well, if they don't cause us trouble, then sure thing!" he said before the other two had any say in it. The three pokémon jumped for joy as Kioshi stood up and turned. "I think Dratini made some friends overnight," he said to the other two.

"Well, let's not get any more friends with us," Suzu said. "Instead, let's just get some more food, huh?"

Everyone's stomachs gurgled simultaneously. Kioshi blushed. "Yeah, good thinking," he agreed, and the group of now six travellers went about finding fruit from the local trees for breakfast. Afterwards, with Totodile carrying Teddiursa--then Kioshi carrying him after he saw the singed arm--the Ouendan and pokémon set off down the road to Vermillion City.

---

WOO-gah! That was a long one! Sorry! (Tho I think it might make up for the fact I haven't updated in one or two months...CURSE YOU, SCHOOL AND THE GAZILLION ACTIVITIES I TAKE!! -shakes fist (and desires asterisks)-. And I'll explain later why they can understand Travis and vice versa. I just wanted to get this chapter done and over with so this fic doesn't die!! ;; I hope to write more in the future! And as soon as I get a laptop, this fic will just go up in seconds, all complete! ...Okay, maybe not, but faster than the two-month span that this has been!! ;; Anywho, thanks for being so patient! And sorry, no jumble of text that is my attempts at notecharting. I'll try and get osu! when I get the laptop. Speaking of, I GOT OUENDAN!! So expect more-a them to be in here. See ya!


	15. We Like to Party!

(15)( ) (Meanwhile) (Back) (Home)

Meanwhile, back in reality, people were watching Pokémon with more zeal than ever before. They were attracted to the fact that there were now real people there, and the fact that, Wow, it's real?! The Agents and Divas were still watching and doing their job, as were the Ouendan, but that didn't nessisarilly mean that they didn't have work to do.

The day after the last episode was a weekend--no new episode. Thus, the climate at EBA Central was a bit bored and ho-hum, since, oddly, not many people had called for help during the time that Agent Lock and his friends had been inside the television. It appeared most of the people in need were in their new world. Them and the Ouendan crew were along and helping out. Commander Kahn still had not gotten around to contacting the young crew about their existance and their mission to find them, and to tell them that they should, therefore, stay put if possible.

He was more concerned with how the energy readings were. Having watched each episode thouroghly, he had determined that only the ones he had mentioned before in the Ouendan-EBA meeting and the most recent ones had had any definite activity. He was getting worried that something was very amiss, something that could threaten his Agents--and cause their parents grief, something that he hated a lot.

"Don't worry about it," said Foxx Friday night, the same Friday that had aired the most recent episode. "I'm sure they'll make it through alright." (She had been called to report on current technological developments, and had noticed that Kahn was worried.)

Kahn grumbled something unintelligible in his hands, then shook his head. "Foxx, how is the progress on your...er..."

"Gate Hacker Device?" she finished. She frowned. "I'm still having trouble. I would like to study the effects of the transworld gates that Lock, Meyers, Hunter, and the Ouendan, Kioshi, Suzu, and Hibiki, went through, and their properties, but we barely have any data on the ones recorded that have had that phenomena." She pulled out her handy laptop and flipped it open, holding it with one arm. "If I could just sift through the energies that are around the signal the badges give off, however..." She paused while typing one-handed at practiced speed and presicion, then showed Kahn the screen. "...I am pretty sure I could be able to pull something off."

Kahn hmmmed as he studied the screen. It showed the wavelength of the badge's signal, and also the wavelength of another signal that the box it was in labeled "interference." "I see," he said after a few seconds, and Foxx pulled it away after a motion of his hand. "Please do continue to work on that."

"Yessir," Foxx replied, stashing the computer back into a case she held. "Anything else? That's all I have to report."

"No, that'll be all. DIS-MISSED!" Kahn replied.

"YESSIR!" Foxx saluted quickly, and she left.

Kahn sat there, mulling over the situation. 'How could this have even begun to happen, anyway?...What's going on?'

Foxx went down the hall and, feeling peckish, went into the cafeteria. There, she took a fruit salad she had labeled in the fridge and went to sit and eat it. The room was small, and had only a few tables, since not many people worked at EBA Central. The room was not totally empty, however, as Cheiftan was sitting and mulling, much like Kahn had been. He had a cappachino half-finished in front of him and a chicken salad with ranch dressing that he was munching on now and then. "What's up, cowboy?" Foxx asked, sitting next to him after she had gotten her food and a glass of raspberry lemonade.

Cheiftan frowned, swallowing his food. "It's just that I'm a little concerned that this whole thing is being taken a little too seriously," he said. "Or maybe not seriously enough. It just seems so strange, don't you think?" He asked this before forking another mouthful and chewing it.

Foxx raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked, sipping her lemonade. "What's so strange, exactly?"

Cheiftan shrugged. "Well, we've been watching that show for a couple of weeks, right?" he asked. "The main characters seem to be going nowhere throughout their reigion, though they HAVE to have been at their next major destination by now!"

The Diva chuckled and shook her head, long white hair shaking a little bit to the sides. "Welcome to the world of the Pokémon anime, Cheiftan," she said.

Cheiftan blinked, then looked at Foxx from the side, eyes visible from behind the shades. "You watched that show before?" he asked.

Foxx shook her head again, laughing. "No, no, I just got everything from Missy," she said. "I love anime in general, and the manga's okay--they at least have the guts to show the little guys getting killed once in a while--but I've never really watched the Pokémon anime. She does, though, unsurprisingly--she IS pretty much fresh out of college, so she's had time to be exposed to it from a young age." She ate a watermelon and smiled. "Mmm, juicy."

Cheiften scoffed. "Well, I also think that we're going a bit overboard," he said, stirring his salad with his fork slowly. "I think the Commander's taking this too seriously. I mean, sure, they're in a world where bad things could happen, but the worst that COULD happen is another No Sleep Tonight. And, frankly, we haven't seen much lately regarding that." He sipped from his drink and wiped the foam from his moustache. "Truth be told, I wonder if he's feeling a bit sentimental over them or something."

Foxx shrugged. "Maybe, I dunno. He's definitely concerned, though. I told him they'll be fine when he called me in."

Cheiftan grunted, pausing a few moments while he ate before continuing. "It also looks almost like the way the show is structured, by what I hear, is pretty unchanged. I mean, in terms of content. Nobody's really been killed, nobody's done drugs, nobody's done anything. The biggest controversy is probably either that...blue snake thing's weird fetish over Kioshi or Travis being a werewolf."

"Not in Japan," Foxx said immediately, getting the point, holding a finger up. "I've played enough games and watched enough anime to realize that they've obviously got a much more tolerent and open mind to furries. They love them, it almost seems, what with all the characters in thier work that are anthropomorphic. Look at Atelier Iris 2, or Tales of...bah, I forget, but one of them. Or, probably more familiar to nongamers like you--"

"Hey! I play a pretty mean Space Invaders, mind you!" Cheiftan interrupted, scowling a bit.

Foxx bit back the urge to laugh and continued, "--would be Final Fantasy, namely the twelvth of the main series. The Bangaa and, more prominently, Vieria races are not human but are pretty important, especially since one of the latter is a main party member."

Cheiftan shrugged. "Well, okay, nevermind about that, then," he grumbled. "But it still seems kiddie. Live works are supposed to be anything-goes. I don't know if I've heard any swearing as of yet, and no blood at all, for sure. But yet," he said, and waited for a while before continuing, taking a few more salad bites before doing so, "I've got this feeling that something big's going down. I don't know what, but it's my gut instinct, and I've always followed it. That's how I joined the EBA, actually, and get through some of the tougher missions we've had."

Foxx raised her eyebrows in interest, resting her head on her hands. "Why do you think it's saying that now, then?" she asked, forking a couple cantelope into her maw.

Cheiftan frowned to one side. "I bet it's because the kids were pretty much targeted, all of them. Four out of six of the cheer squad members--Lock, Meyers, Hunter, and Kioshi--all entered the show after a portal opened up on their screen. The fact they did so of their own accord, even though they were on break, makes me wonder if this was done on purpose."

Foxx nodded, narrowing her eyebrows a bit. "Yeah, I get what you mean," she said. "As if someone was playing on their sense of duty."

"Same for Suzu and Hibiki," Cheiftan nodded, "though how they were able to summon the portal at will I have no clue. It might have been coincedence, or maybe they just gave the portal a clue as to where they were and opened up to them to get them voluntarilly kidnapped." He finished his salad and sat, arms crossed.

Foxx thought for a moment, putting a hand to her chin while she chewed her fruit. "Well, I guess you're right, something IS going on," she said after a bit. "At least, you've got reason to believe that."

"Right. I wonder, though, are we not doing enough? We're just watching and nobody has been able to really alert them of danger except Kahn," Cheiftan said. "There's got to be SOMEthing we could do."

Foxx nodded. "I've been, as you may know, working on a device to basically hack our way into the anime's world. I just need to decipher which wavelength out of a whole mess of interference wavelengths around the one our badges' transmitters' signal is, and I'll hopefully have the gadget down pat." She smiled and was about to say something else regarding it, but a thought occured to her. "Wait, if someone's been preying on their duty sense, why would they attack them?" she asked. "Like in the No Sleep Tonight episode?"

"I suspect that they are preying on them and seeking to destroy them," Cheiftan guessed. "I mean, just lure them in when they're trying to rest, wait until they're tired, then strike. It might have worked on our Agents, too, but thank goodness that Travis helped them."

Foxx nodded, then smirked. "You know, I've recently built a filter that scans people and says how powerful their sense of rhythm is," she said. "It's related to the brain, really, so it wasn't a major feat. It can only tell the potential in each person, not their current skill level." She brought out her laptop. "Here, speaking of Travis, I want to show you this that I just remembered that I found out earlier today." She typed a bit, then showed him the screen while eating her food.

Cheiftan watched. It was a screenshot of the scene where Travis, Frank, and Dorian were together, travelling and about to go. Over it was a filter that made everything that couldn't move black and all living things that could green. Each person, including the pokémon, was a different shade. A key to the right of the screen said that the brighter the green, the greater the potential rhythmic sense. He wasn't surprised to find the Ouendan being bright green, but he was when he saw that Travis and the others were, too. In fact, they were all one of two shades, almost: Travis, Kioshi and, oddly, Dratini were the brightest of them, with the most being Kioshi and the least Travis(though not by many degrees); Suzu and Hibiki were equal, and were a little darker than Travis; and just a little darker still were the two new wild pokémon, Totodile and Teddiursa. Totodile was a smidgen darker than his friend. About as dark as those two was the dog pokémon by Travis. Cheiftan raised his eyebrow. "Interesting," he said. "They're all well above average."

"And you might notice that they all have the potential to become Agents," Foxx added. After looking around the screen more, Cheiftan found a line on the scale that separated above-average from potential Agent, a line he hadn't really noticed before since it blended with the green around it. "Odd, no?"

Cheiftan groaned aggrivatedly. "Great, now I've got another thing to worry about," he said. "You saw how that snake thing--"

"Dratini..."

"--went around with its task, and explained herself. She had that feeling that we all know and rely on, the knowledge that someone's in need out there, nearby. We feel it when cheering closeby. I bet the Ouendan have a much more powerful version since they don't have the technology we do to find targets--"

At that moment, cutting him off before he could continue, the alarm went off. "AGENTS CHEIFTAIN, MORRIS, AND DEREK TO THE COMMAND ROOM," ordered the computerized voice on the PA system.

"Well," Foxx said, as Cheiftan groaned and got up, "I think I see what you mean, in that you're worried that maybe now there's more to this story..."

Cheiftan nodded, then dashed away to the Command Room.

-----

A normal, everyday afternoon in an American suburb met them. An average house was seen, with a car pulling out of the driveway. A fair-skinned girl in pink flipflops, blue jeans and red t-shirt, with bangles on her wrists and an orange scrunchie tying back her long, strait, blonde hair into a ponytail stood, stood at the sidewalk by the driveway, holding an arm behind her back and watching the car back out with her bright, blue eyes.

The car stopped by her, the window in front of her. It rolled down and revealed a man with clean hair in the driver's seat. "Well, we're off, Rebecca," he said. "Watch the house while me and your mother are away. We'll be back around eleven tomorrow morning, so don't do anything stupid while we're gone."

Rebecca smiled and nodded. "Right, Dad," she said, like it was obvious she would follow his directions.

(Rebecca Seth, 17, soon-to-be Senior in high school

Her parents are leaving for the weekend. She's on her own for all that time...)

(Cheiftan, noticing this caption, raised an eyebrow. "I have a feeling I know where this is going..." he mumbled.)

"Kay, bye, then!" bade Mr. Seth, pulling out and driving off.

"Bye!" Rebecca waved. She stood and waited until they were out of sight, then dashed inside and dialed the phone. "Hey, Jenny? ...Yeah, they're gone. You handle your list and I'll handle mine..." She grinned mischievously and clenched a fist. "...cuz it's time to get this party started!"

Later, that evening, the party was well underway. There were a few and music was blaring out the speakers at a nice volume. To the Agents' surprise, it actually didn't seem all that wild. People were standing around and talking, a few were busy playing the Wii and PS2 they had--DDR only on the latter--and nobody was drinking alcohol, which was apparant since they saw a shot where there was a well-locked, well-full cabinent with liquor visible through the glass. Rebecca and some of her friends were dancing in the living room to the speakers. "You're not going to get into any trouble, right, Rebecca?" asked one of her friends, a brown-haired girl wearing blue and having green eyes.

Rebecca smiled and nodded. "Jenny, I've got this party all under control," she said. "Remember what I told you?"

"Yeah, how you made sure to invite only certain people and to make sure everyone was under the impression that there was to be no overkill stuff?" Jenny recalled, grinning. "Pretty smart thinking, especially for someone who can barely get by like you!"

Rebecca chuckled and sweated a little. "HEY, IS EVERYONE HAVING FUN!!?" she shouted out.

"YEAH!!" came a happy reply.

Rebecca grinned and said, "GOOD!!" back. "See? And people are happy!" she told her friend. "I've made sure of everything--it'll take a miracle for things to go wrong!"

Jenny chuckled nervously. "Eh-heh-heh, yeah, don't say that, or else you'll jinx things," she warned.

Rebecca was about to say something back when she heard tires squeal and screech outside. "Huh?" She waded through the moderate crowd to the door. When she got there, the doorbell rang. Pulling it open, she asked the customary, "Yes?" before squaking.

Cars were plastered over the lawn and the street around them. As well, there was a small crowd of guys and girls who she identified as being from college or something, all of them looking happy and hopeful. "Hey, cutie," one of the guys said, the one who had rang the doorbell, "we heard a party was going on tonight. This the place?"

Rebecca, after seeing her lawn ruined from the group and these unwelcome guests, replied, "Yeah, but you're not--"

"--stayin' out here any longer!! C'MON, GUYS!!" the lead guy said, waving his arm, and the crowd bumrushed inside the house, trampling her.

When the dust settled, Rebecca had footprints all over her. "Uh-oh," was all she said. After getting up a second later, she raced into the house. The college students were making her peers obviously uncomfortible.

"What're you guys DOING?!" cried the lead college guy. "This ain't a party!! Put on the tunes and bring out the keg, cuz we're gonna give you a REAL time!!" The college kids all whooped as, indeed, one of them brought out a keg. The music was mercilessly whipped out and changed from good ol' fashioned rave music--a party standard--to awful, loud, obnoxious rap, which they pumped up so loud it was deafening. They were trying to break into the liquor cabinet, which was thankfully giving them quite a time. The friends Rebecca had invited were a little uneasy, but they accepted it and some even joined in on the party.

Rebecca stuttered, hands up, unable to utter a sentence. "Well...But...I didn't...Uh..." She sweat harder and harder.

Jenny, biting her lip, ran over to Rebecca, asking, "Did you invite these guys? They're gonna ruin the party!"

Then, at that time, the phone rang. Rebecca squeaked and rushed to it as fast as she could before a college kid could. She succeeded and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked, hoping, 'Please no, please no, please no...'

"Rebecca??" came the voice on the other end. Her heart froze. It was her father. "What's with the loud voices and the noise? I can barely hear you! Shoot, low on minutes...Look, something happened and we're getting home now. We'll be there in half an hour. Sorry for the short notice! Gotta go!"

Rebecca stood there, holding the phone in her hand, frozen on the spot. The loud music blared out the house, the cars on the lawn, the unwelcome guests, and someone was making progress on the booze--she knew that smoking and people making out were soon to be next. But she was too parylized with horror and shock...she wasn't the kind of person that could handle this!

"Rebecca...?" Jenny asked, coming over and putting a concerned hand on her shoulder.

Slowly she looked at her. "Y-Yeah?" she asked.

Jenny smiled nervously. "Well, uh, I just got a threat from a neighbor next door saying he was going to call the cops on us..."

Rebecca snapped. She stood looking at her, thinking, 'This...no...I...But...!!' Finally, she was able to do something...Whipping her head, she cried, at the top of her lungs, tears squirting out of her eyes, a desperate,

**"HHHEEEEEEEEEEAAALLLLP!!"**

-----

Commander Kahn remained turned from the Agents. "Rebecca Seth is a normal teenage girl who's now got a party that she must get cleared out in record time, while having no real major social skills. She's a kind, understanding girl, and this is obviously her first time at a party, nevermind organizing one. Your mission is to help her clear things up before her parents get home. Am I clear?"

"""YESSIR!!""" replied Cheiftan, Morris, and Derek.

"Then...Agents are..." Cheiftan turned slowly in his chair, then pointed. "GO!!"

-:-:-

(-)We like to party

(-)We like, we like to party

(-)We like to party

(-)We like, we like to party

(-)We like to party

(-)We like, we like to party

(-)We like to party...(beeeeeEEEE**EEEP!!**)

The wheel of the EBA car rev along and the car itself screeches around a corner before stopping before the mass of cars nearly blocking the road. The music starts up in the background as Cheiftan, Morris, and Derek leap out of their car.

Through the window of the house, Rebecca, who had been carried by her friend someplace to sit down since she was obviously in shock somewhat, saw them standing on some of the cars on the lawn. She gulped, thinking they were the cops, and paled when Cheiftan shoved his badge at her. She opened the window to shout something out in explaination.

**-:-MISSION: Party Poopers!! Stop the Chaos!!-:-**

"The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" he cried as loud as he could, and Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "Just buck up, get in there, and take the lead, and we'll be here to back you up!"

(-)(Do-do-do-do-do-DOO-DOO...)

Rebecca gulped, about had it, and turned to the group of people. "I have to stop the music before the cops get here!" she gulped.

"But what about the beer?! We can't risk underage drinking--that's WORSE!" Jenny complained.

Rebecca grabbed at her hair in agony, but then the Agents came and jumped onto a van on the lawn and started swaying. Rebecca, hearing much more agreeable music and feeling them, suddenly felt good and energized, swaying along with.

"WOOOAAAAH!!"

"""Are you ready??...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

-I've got something to tell ya

-I've got news for you

-Gonna put some wheels in motion

-Get ready cuz we're comin' through (comin' through comin' through)

As Vengaboys' famous song "We Like to Party" came to her ears, Rebecca felt energized and began to get around to getting the liquor out of the hands of every guest she could, saying there was no beer allowed. She was a bit timid at first, and was faced with quite a few people trying to yank their cup back from her, and she, at one point, was too afraid and could only stand in horror as they drank the alcohol. But then, she got energized with the urgency of her task and began grabbing the red cups out of guests' hands as she went along around the house.

Eventually, she got them all and had washed them down the sink. "There!" she said, putting some soap down there to wash the stench. "Now, to get the source..." She was gaining more confidence as she marched to the main college student. He was by the keg. "HEY!" she called, and he turned to her. "I'm the boss around here, now, and I say to stop with the beer or else!"

"Or else what?" asked the main guy, snickering.

Bravely, Rebecca went, grabbed the keg, said, "Or else," and then chucked it out the open window(making the Agents duck), "THIS!!"

Every college student gaped at her, then stared out the window. "THE BEEEERR!!" they cried, as Jenny, who was behind the Agents, caught the keg--and soon after all the evidence--and put them in the car she had identified as the one that had the keg--in other words, the one whose trunk was still open and had a convienently-placed niche in the luggage that fit the metal case like a glove.

"TOUCHDOWN!" she cried, giving her friend a thumbs-up.

Rebecca smirked at the college students. "My party, my rules," she said to them slyly.

b ---(O)--- /b 

(-)Hey now, hey now

(-)Here's what I say now

(-)Happiness is just around the corner

(-)Hey now, hey now

(-)Here's what I say now

(-)We'll be there for you

Jenny ran inside, a look of distress on her face. "Rebecca! The neighbors have just told me they've called the police!!"

Rebecca screamed. "AAAUUUGHH!! NOOO!!"

The college students meeped at this. "Uh, BYE!!" they said, and rushed to the door to clear out.

Jenny growled, barring the door, "Oh, NO, you don't!!"

Rebecca gulped as they all headed towards the back. "I've gotta stop them!!"

-The Vengabus is comin'

-And everybody's jumpin'

-New York to San Francisco

-An inter-city disco

-The wheels of steel are turnin'

-And traffic lights are burnin'

-So if you like to party

-Get on and move your body

Rebecca, at first, was struggling to keep the rowdy crowd of college students, ironic to her desires at the time, INside her house. She wrestled with them and was able to keep a stalemate, nobody going out but her not really getting much in the way of breathing room. For a breif moment, she was overpowered and cowered in the fetal position while the older kids paraded out, but she, getting a grip with the thoughts of fixing her party, almost instantly stood up and started beating them off mercilessly, causing THEM to cower and protect themselves.

"ALRIGHT, STOP THE MUSIC!!" called an adult voice, and all stopped and turned to a police officer. "We're here because of a party going on?"

The main guy, snickering, pushed Rebecca in front of him. "She's the boss of this here party, talk to her," he said.

The officer glared at her. "Well?"

Rebecca gulped, but then clenched her fists and nodded, determined look on her face. "Officer, these college students, who began the loud, AWFUL music, are here WITHOUT my permission and against my will--I specifically invited certain people here."

"Any proof?" he asked.

"Yeah!" She called out, "OI!! EVERYONE SHOW YOUR INVITATIONS!!"

At once, all the people she invited showed their invitations. "RIGHT HERE, OFFICER!!"

The policemen raised their eyebrows at this, then nodded. "Well, then, miss," he said, looking back at her, "I'll let you off with a warning. But the REST of you college kids..." He anger-veined as he rose and whipped his arm around, pointing. "YER ALL UNDER ARREST FOR TRESPASSING!! CUFF 'EM, BOYS!!"

"RIGHT-O, CHIEF!!" replied the other cops there.

The other college kids squaked and, in an instant, bolted and raced to their cars with so much speed, Jenny and Rebecca couldn't get to them in time. They heard cars leaving, and Rebecca, cheering, saw her lawn nice and normal again--well, there were tiretracks, but at least there weren't any cars anymore. (The Agents had jumped right before the car they were on took off, landing in the spot it was in safely.) The police managed to grab a few, though, one of them being the lead guy. The student glared at Rebecca over his shoulder as he was taken away. "Some thanks I get for showing you what a REAL party is!" he spat.

"Sorry, but REAL parties are the ones that end with everyone HAPPY!" Rebecca spat back, raising an eyebrow while planting a hand on her hip.

"HECK YEAH!" agreed much of the original partiers.

**---(O)---**

(-)We like to party

(-)We like, we like to party

(-)We like to party

(-)We like, we like to party

Everyone returned to partying as normal, and all was good...almost. As mentioned before, there were now tire tracks in front of the house on the lawn. Rebecca freaked. "The lawn's a total disaster area!!" she cried in dismay after looking at the clock and noticing only fifteen minutes remained. "What'm I gonna do?"

"Well, it DOES look like it needs to be trimmed," said Jenny, thoughtful. Rebecca looked tortured at the implication.

(The Agents moved to the driveway, to get out of the way.)

-Hey now, hey now

-Here's what I say now

-Happiness is just around the corner

-Hey now, hey now

-Here's what I say now

-We'll be there for you

-The Vengabus is comin'

-And everybody's jumpin'

-New York to San Francisco

-An inter-city disco

-The wheels of steel are turnin'

-And traffic lights are burnin'

-So if you like to party

-Get on and move your body

After getting the lawn mower out of the garage lickedy-split, Rebecca went to mowing the front lawn. At first, she was working at a moderate pace, sweating a little in the summer evening heat. Then, disaster struck; her hands got tired and let go of the bar that she had to keep holding to make the mower go. She then wasted time frantically getting the mower to go again. Panic and determination to get the job done, however, spurred her to get the mower going with a mighty yank and then proceed to run around the whole lawn, green clippings flying sort of like half of the wake of a speedboat.

After a while, to Rebecca's shock, the mower died. "AUGH! I'm out of gas!!" she shriked. She looked around frantically and saw that she had actually gone and done all of the lawn, which meant that now, there wasn't a single tire track to be seen. She calmed down and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Phew! Talk about lucky!" she said.

"More like the work of a speed demon!" Jenny complimented from the front door, clapping along with the other partiers.

**---(O)---**

(-)The Vengabus is comin'

(-)And everybody's jumpin'

(-)New York to San Francisco

(-)An inter-city disco

(-)The wheels of steel are turnin'

(-)And traffic lights are burnin'

(-)So if you like to party

(-)Get on and move your body

Rebecca returned the mower back to the garage and entered the front door again, panting and sweating. "Sorry for the noise, folks," she apologized as she came in.

Jenny smiled nervously as her friend entered in again. "But, uh, that won't NEARLY be as loud as your parents' yelling when they find this pigsty," she told her. When Rebecca looked up and saw that the house, around all the partiers, was a mess from the antics of the college students.

"Aw, COME ON!!" she cried in horror and dread. The clock read that she had five minutes.

(The Agents, now that the parents might come home soon and also that they could and should, went indoors and stood in a spot in the living room free of clutter and people.)

-We like to party

-We like, we like to party

-We like to party

-We like, we like to party

-We like to party

-We like, we like to party

-We like to party

-We like, we like to party (The Vengabus is comin')

-The Vengabus is comin'

-The Vengabus is comin'

-The Vengabus is--(beeeeeEEEE**EEEP!!**)

At first, Rebecca, tired from the exertion of mowing the lawn so hard, was only weakly throwing trash away, not putting much effort into it, to Jenny's disatisfaction(she even stood there, scolding her, saying, "Move it!!"). The other partiers went on dancing and talking, unimpressed by her work as well. But then, Rebecca started to step things up a few notches, and began to run around, throwing things away with more zeal than before, which was a decent rate that Jenny liked--she helped her friend out as best she could. The partiers sometimes glanced with guilty-looking faces at them, and a couple felt so bad that they came and helped, too. After a bit of this, though, Rebecca, again driven by panic and determination simultaneously, began going full-throttle around the house, throwing things away and righting knocked-over furniture. Her zeal made Jenny very glad, or maybe it was that fact that that same zeal inspired some more of the guests to pitch in that made Rebecca's friend feel good. Regardless, the house was being power-tidied with the force of a fair number of people working hard to make it right. The other, non-participating guests cheered them on from the living room.

After a while, Rebecca looked at the clock. "Yikes! Two minutes left!" she noted, but she smiled. Turning her head to the side, she held her arm out to indicate the now-pristine living and dining rooms. "But everything's just about perfect!!"

Jenny grinned at her. "They'll never know!" she said.

Rebecca grinned back, then looked over her shoulder at the others. "Thanks a lot, guys!" she said sincerely. The ones who helped nodded.

**---(O)---**

Rebecca clapped her hands. "Okay, everyone! Time to put the finishing touches on!" she said, and set to work.

(Cheiftan looked at Morris and Derek, then said, nodding, "This mission's about up!" The two backups nodded.)

-The Vengabus is comin'

-And everybody's jumpin'

-New York to San Francisco

-An inter-city disco

-The wheels of steel are turnin'

-And traffic lights are burnin'

-So if you like to party

-Get on and move your body

Rebecca and everyone else pitched in to help clean up the last few places before her parents got home. With only a little time left to go, her energy never waned even once.

A car's honking was heard outside. Rebecca gulped and looked. "Oh, no! They're back!" She then looked around and noticed that there were still people there. "And I totally forgot to shoo everyone off--!"

The front door slammed open, and Rebecca's father and mother, who had fair hair and green eyes, came in. "REBECCA!!" shouted her father, who, like his wife, looked pretty cross. Rebecca came scampering over, looking uneasy. He crossed arms and looked at her. "Would you care to explain the number of cars outside our house--AND ALL THESE PEOPLE?!" he demanded.

"Well, I..." Rebecca began, but, even to her parents, seemed to be at a loss for words. But then, with another spurt of courage, she clenched her fists, looked her parents in the eyes, and said, firmly, "I hosted a party with a bunch of people at school without your permission." She then held her arm out to the rest of the house, which was clean and was full of happy faces. The music was a fair volume, and not a trace of alcohol was to be seen. "But I DARE you to find something wrong here!" Rebecca continued couragously. Jenny looked at her with an impressed smirk on her face.

Her parents, wide-eyed in surprise, looked around a bit. "I can't believe it," her mother said, "this actually looks like a perfectly fine party."

"I'll say," her father agreed, nodding. "Wait...Hey, before I decide to throw you all out or not," he addressed the party, "was my daughter at least a good and responsible hostess?"

Everyone grinned or smiled or made some positive face or motion and answered affirmatively. "Absolutely!" "Without a doubt!" "She did awesome!"

Rebecca's parents looked at each other, then to their daughter. She looked at them with a sorry--but blushing--look on her face. "I'm sorry," she said.

Her parents looked at each other, then at her again, smiling this time. "If everyone's having fun and agrees to leave when we tell them..." her mother began.

"...we'll let you off the hook this time," finished her father.

Rebecca gasped and looked up at her parents with sparkling eyes. "R-REALLY?!" she asked, breathless. They nodded, and she jumped for joy. "YEEAAH!! THANK YOU!!"

Jenny ran over and gave her a friendly hug. "I can't believe it! You pulled off getting out of trouble, plus we can party some more!! YOU ROCK!!"

Rebecca grinned sheepishly and put a hand on the back of her head. "Th-Thanks, Jenny, but I didn't do it myself...thanks for helping."

Jenny grinned at her as she parted. "Hey, I just helped. YOU'RE the one who did the hardest work here!" she reminded her. Rebecca blushed and continued to grin sheepishly.

(-)The Vengabus is comin'

(-)And everybody's jumpin'

(-)New York to San Francisco

(-)An inter-city disco

(-)The wheels of steel are turnin'

(-)And traffic lights are burnin'

(-)So if you like to party

(-)Get on and move your body

(-)The Vengabus is comin'

- - -

Rebecca went and partied with Jenny and some more of her friends, dancing to her music and having a good time, without the need for really loud, bad music, hard drinks, or anything--just good music, friends, and fun. She smiled as she got her reward for all the hard work she did that night. In the background, her parents stood and smiled as they watched the teenagers party.

-:-:-

Of course, the EBA members, having slipped out the back, were watching from the window until the point when Rebecca blushed before heading to the car.

---

Back at EBA Central, Cheiftan, Morris, and Derek all stood at attention in front of the Commander's desk. After a few moments, Commander Kahn swung around and gave his thumbs-up. "YEEAAAAHH!!"

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

TEUUSHH!!

-----

----

---

--

-

Commander Kahn sat back down again, resting his head on his steepled fingers. "Good work, men," he said. "Without you, that young lady would never have had the guts to stand up for herself like she did and save her party. It's good to see the recent slack in business hasn't slowed YOU down any." He nodded. "At any rate, thank you for your work. That'll be all. DIS-MISSED!"

"""YESSIR!!"""

The three Agents filed out of the room, but Cheiftan lingered. "Er, Commander?" he asked.

"Yes, Cheiftan?" Kahn replied, not changing position.

Cheiftan hesitated, then said, "Well, you do know that there's got to be more to all of this than what there appears..."

"Yes...and...?"

Cheiftan looked away. "I just think that, maybe, things might be getting a bit over our heads...I'm worried that there might be something over THEIR heads..."

"Cheiftan," Kahn said, still not turning to one of his best Agents, "have faith in the rookies. They've got talent and energy, as well as good hearts. I'm certain that they'll be able to survive without us helping them as much as we'd like to. As long as they've got their wits about them, nothing stands in the way of members of the EBA."

Cheiftan nodded. "Thank you." He was about to leave when another thought occured to him. "...Sir? Could...Could it be possible for...for another--"

Commander Kahn nodded as he spoke. "I know what you're getting at, and Foxx, as well," he interrupted him. (Cheiftan blinked for a second, remembering the security cameras around the place and wondering if he'd accidentially insulted Kahn before.) "And I agree..." He turned to the screens. "...those people, human and not, are...interesting. Dismissed."

"Yessir," Cheiftain said. He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, stroking his beard and wondering, 'What would it be like if...?'

-----

YOWza! Sorry, folks, for the long-ass wait!! Doncha just LOVE crazy life laziness-disguised-as-plot-setup? XD; Oh, well, at least I made myself sit down and get this one out of the way. Hey, I wonder--with the presence of alcohol, but nobody getting drunk--though it's implied to potentially happen--would the game this theoretically would be in still get away with E10 ...? -shrug- Bleh. Well, I've got to say, I hope I haven't spoiled anything big here...we'll see. At least I'm hoping for a dramatic irony, still, if any...That's still good, right? At least it wouldn't seem like it's coming from left feild.

Oh, and a warning: I might be putting in a chapter here that has absolutely nothing to do with EBA or Ouendan--an all-Pokémon chapter. Hmmmm...Hey, maybe I should submit it as a short-story one-shot to the Pokémon section, instead, and simply provide a link in the next real chapter of this fic that the stand-alone chapter applies to. It's going to be a bit of a weird romance kinda thing, so if you want to get the whole thing, you'll have to bear with me. X3;; Anywho, --merci beaucoup-- to anyone still reading this crap-assed fanfic after the huge hiatus!!


	16. X: : : Travis Goes Home : : :X

(16)( ) (The) (Beast) (Within)

Travis sat at a ledge, letting a leg dangle and leaning back, looking up at the moon one night. He had decided to transform, even though a full moon was not present. He wanted to revel in the joy of being able to be something else at will, and, besides, it was a bit chilly. Poochyena was beside him, enjoying the moonlight with his friend. Frank and Dorian were back at camp through the trees aways. They were in Hoenn, now, and were not far away from his relatives' home. Truth be told, they HAD gone to Dorian's folks in Cerulean, but afterwards, Travis had gotten a letter, strangely.

They were walking out of the city towards Vermillion to catch the boat out when Poochyena perked his ears. "Yen?" he muttered, looking up and sniffing, stopping.

Travis looked down, the wind blowing his hair behind him, towards the group's faces. "Yena? What's wrong?" he asked, stopping as well.

The other two stopped as Poochyena sniffed a bit more, then barked, "Yen! Yena!"

Travis raised his eyebrows. "Really?" He looked up and behind him, hooding his eyes. He then saw the shape of a swellow flying towards them. "Ah, I see. Hey...has it got something in its talons?"

Yena shrugged. "Ye-en," he replied in the same way as someone going, "I dunno."

Frank smirked. "Hey, maybe I can catch THIS one," he muttered, maximizing a ball.

Travis held his hand out, his interested look now concerned. "Wait, Frank, that's not yours," he said. "That's actually MY folks' swellow, Coaty. I can recognize him, now; he's got an off-color right foot."

They couldn't see right then, since Coaty was too high for their normal eyes, but a few moments later, the Flying-type came close enough for them to see. A moment after, he had landed. He landed in front of Travis, holding said right foot up(it was a little lighter than the other one). Indeed, Travis had seen him carrying something. Dorian raised an eyebrow. "A letter?"

"Yeah," Travis said, taking the envelope. It was addressed to him, all right, but only his name. He smiled thankfully at Coaty. "Thanks, Coaty!" he said.

"Swell!" he replied, and flew off without another word.

Travis opened the letter, feeling worried. "Why would they send me a letter instead of calling me?" he wondered aloud. He brought it out and saw that it was very short.

"What's it say?" asked Frank, who went up on tiptoe to look over Travis' shoulder.

Travis held it up and cleared his throat, then read, "'Dear Travis, Please return home as soon as possible. We would like to talk. Love, your parents.' Not much, really," he added after folding it up and putting it away, sighing and frowning. He bowed his head to his friends. "I'm sorry, guys, but we've got to go to Hoenn, now, since they want me there ASAP, so..."

Frank and Dorian smiled and nodded. "That's alright, Trav," Dorian said. "I'm cool with that."

"I've always wanted to go to Hoenn, anyway," Frank pointed out, grinning. "I've heard the babes there are choice!"

Travis and Dorian sighed exasperatedly. ""You always hear the babes are choice anywhere we go,"" THEY pointed out. They all laughed after, and so all was good. Well, to the other two.

After walking a ways, Yena could tell his friend wasn't feeling well. "Yen?" he asked concernedly, looking up.

Travis was looking down as he walked, face a little worried. He cleared it as he looked down at Yena and said he was fine.

Now, a couple days later, Travis was looking the same way again. Yena whined worriedly as he looked up. Finally, he asked, "Pooch-na yen?" "Are you sure you're fine?"

Travis sighed and leaned back on both paws. His tail swished to one side wistfully. "I'm only worried, Yena," he answered. "It's pretty serious when my parents call for me by letter like this."

Yena tilted his head in that cute way dogs sometimes do. "Well, how so?" he asked. "Why?"

Travis puckered his lips to a side, then another, before asking, "Is anyone else around?"

Yena took a quick whiff. "Nope, except for Dorian and Loudmouth back in their sleeping bags," he answered.

Travis chuckled at his friend's name for Frank. "Well, anyway...well, it's because of this," he said, briefly motioning down his body with one paw. He then sat up and walked to a tree, sitting down and leaning against it. Yena padded over to him, nodding in understanding. "It's just that...well, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else in my family breaking the curse," he continued. He looked down at his paws in worry. "I wonder...is THAT it? Do they know...?"

Yena scratched behind his ear with a hind leg. "Neh, so what?" he asked as he did. He got the itch and stopped. "It's nothing bad, is it? Maybe they're so happy, they want to see you!" he suggested optimistically, smiling.

Travis frowned. "I...I dunno..." he said. He looked away. "I...Well, ever since that night, every night, when I go to sleep, I've been having these dreams...in them, I'm up against the huge wolf that always controlled me whenever I was transformed. All through my dreams, I'd have to fight him again. It always felt so real..."

Yena gulped uneasily. "W-Well, uh, it's...it's just a dream, right, Travis?" he asked. 'I don't wanna see him all scary like I know these guys can be...'

Travis heard and sensed the fear and turned, smiling, down to his friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure it is," he lied. He really wasn't all THAT sure.

Yena breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, good," he said. "I thought that things would go like how I feared they would when we first met...I was worried that you'd, like, eat me or something!"

Travis chuckled at the memory. "Ah, yes," he said, "I remember..."

The night after the "No Sleep Tonight" incident, Travis and the other two were traveling down to a dock city so they could get to Kanto. As they camped the night in the middle of nowhere again, Travis decided to get a laugh from his friends' reactions and play a trick on them. He said he felt like transforming just for the heck of it--Frank said, "Sure, you could use that extra firepower of yours and chop us some more wood; this fire ain't gonna last long on these twigs," and Dorian was pretty mellow either way--and did so. He then acted like he was possessed again and falsely attacked them. Dorian saw through it--he remembered that Travis' eyes were different when he was possessed from seeing them using the flashlight the night before--but Frank screamed and bolted through the woods. Travis chuckled and Dorian said he should follow him.

He did, and while tracking him, he kept "feral," in that he acted as he did while possessed. He caught the scent and raced to his friend, ready to give him a tackle and big fat Lick on his face, laughing. He rushed, though, and didn't really pay attention as a lone poochyena stepped out in front of him. The pokémon yipped as he saw the big, scary beast tearing right at him, and Travis was able to veer to the side--slamming right into a tree, yipping as well. He hit his head and slammed into the ground.

"OWOWOWOWOW!!" he growled, sitting up and rubbing his head with a paw. "Yow, that wasn't fun..." He looked up and saw that he'd made a big dent in the tree. He yipped again. "Oh, crap! Sorry, Mr. Tree!!" he apologized, sweat-dropping.

"Yep, that's you, alright," said Frank, coming down from another tree a little ways away. He came over and smacked Travis on the spot he had slammed his head, causing him to yip again. "That's for you making me nearly crap my pants," he said. He was smirking, though.

Travis chuckled and looked up, rubbing his head again. "Yeah, guess I deserved it," he said, and laughed.

"D-D-DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!" cried the little pokémon, who had been frozen in fear. He looked up at the werewolf with frightened eyes.

Travis, who could understand this as if it were normal speech, just like any pokémon, looked about in wonder. "Huh? Who's there?" he asked. He then looked at the poochyena and sweatdropped. "Oh, dear! I'm sorry, little guy!" he said, putting his paws together in apology, smiling nervously so that his eyes were closed. "I didn't mean to scare YOU!"

The pokémon gulped and asked, "R-r-really?" shakilly.

Travis nodded, still smiling the way he had been. "Yup!" he replied. Then he snapped his eyes open as it dawned on him. He looked at the pokémon and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you...?"

"What's going on?" Dorian asked, crashing through the trees. "I heard a lot of yipping, so..." He stopped as he saw the intent-looking wolfy and the scared-looking pokémon. He blinked, then pointed at them. "W.T.F.?"

Frank shrugged. "I think they're communicating," he said. He smirked and added, "I bet they're gonna sniff butts now, or something."

He was rewarded with a Headbutt in the gut from the poochyena and a smack on the head from Travis. ""We're wolves, but I think this is quite a bit different!!"" both said, looking a little affronted as they turned their noses up and away.

Frank held his stomach, grimacing. "Yeah, but neither of you can take a joke...Oof!..."

Travis and the poochyena, though, looked at each other in surprise. "Wow, talk about weird," Travis said.

"We were just on the same wavelength, weren't we?" the poochyena asked.

They blinked, then laughed and were friends since. Yena, as Travis decided to call him, decided to accompany Travis as he went around the land, since he was a pokémon that wanted to go around the world someday, to visit new places like no other. He had a feeling Travis would assist him in that goal.

Travis and Yena sighed as they recalled that event. They gazed at the moon a bit longer, then Travis stretched and yawned. "Well, I think it's about time I turned in, Yena," he said sleepily. He stood up and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he glowed with moonlight, his fur rippled, and, after his body flashed once, he was back to normal human, sans shirt and shoes(which he'd left at his sleeping bag). He was fine going barefoot and half naked, though, just back to camp. He was careful where he walked, and nobody was up that could see him.

Yena followed. "Alright!" he said. "I feel tired, too. So, g'night, Travis!"

"Night, Yena!" Travis waved to his friend as they reached camp. He went to his sleeping bag and Yena curled up by the fire.

-...-

The next morning, Travis, Frank, Dorian, and Yena finally reached a lone, traditional-style home in the woods. Travis smiled a little. "Well, look, it's my house," he said. "I'm so happy..."

Frank and Dorian looked uneasily at Travis. "You don't sound like it," Frank said a little quietly.

"Nervous?" Dorian asked, smiling a little.

Travis nodded. "I hope it's nothing bad..." He sighed and the four walked to it.

Someone dressed in a simple kimono opened the front door. She, so it seemed, had long hair the same colors as Travis', tied in a long braid. She had wild bangs, though, so she MUST be related to Travis, reasoned the two humans. She had on light blush and no lipstick. She smiled as she looked at them with her large, kind eyes. "Why, good morning," she bade in a nice, mellow voice.

Travis sighed and gave a weak smile back. "Good morning, mother," he said back.

A few moments later, the four were inside, shoes off. They were kneeling at the low table(well, Yena was merely sitting), and Travis saw the rest of his family across from him.

His mother sat across from Dorian, who was on Travis' left, and another young boy, about ten or eleven, sat across from Frank. The boy, wearing everyday clothing, had a bandage over one cheek and his hair, the same way as Travis', was actually cut short. 'He still does that every morning, huh?' Travis wondered, wanting to sigh and shake his head at his little brother's stubbornness. But the one he sat across from was his father, who was the reason he felt so much more uptight. He couldn't help but gulp as he looked at him.

Travis' father was tall, leanly muscular, and had a gruff look about him. He wore a traditional Japanese male's outfit, the name of which escapes me, and he was currently crossing his arms. His face had a couple scars, one across his right eyebrow and one down on his left jaw. His right ear even had a bit of a notch out of it. His hair was even longer and wilder than Travis', but was a bit whiter than his. His eyebrows were big and poofy, and he had a scruffy beard (no moustache). His serious green eyes pierced his son. He didn't look pleased, either, which heightened the feeling of dread.

The room was quiet for a moment until Travis finally asked softly, "Er...Why is it that I was supposed to come right away?"

His father looked sternly at his son. "Travis Monkshood," he addressed, voice deep and growly, like the voice of a proper alpha male. "My son. We called you here because of something very serious."

The other humans and Yena gulped, and Travis asked, "Er...And what, may I ask, is that?"

Moments passed. A clock on in the room ticked away seconds that seemed to echo for eons. Finally, with a glare, Mr. Monkshood said, "Because..."

A moment passed, and then, suddenly, all three of the other family members were leaning over and smiling. "Your brother finally got his first all-A's report card!!" his father answered at last.

Everyone on the other side of the table anime-fell backwards. Travis sprang up first even before the dust cleared and, anger-veining, barked angrily, "You send me a private letter just to tell me Johnny's just frozen hell?! Yeah, right!!"

(Johnny anger-veined at this and 3-mouthed as he went, "HEY!")

Travis' father chuckled. "I'm sorry, Trav, I couldn't resist," he said. He looked a lot more pleasant when he smiled. But this smile wiped right off as he cleared his throat. "But, now, the real reason we called you here, for which I ask your friends leave the room, has something to do with your...affliction..."

Frank, who, with Dorian, had righted himself a few seconds after Travis, said, before Travis could stop him, "Oh, about his lycanthropy? Yeah, we know about that." The room was deadly still as everyone stared at Frank. Travis was giving him a pale look that registered as shock and terror and, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Frank blinked, sweatdropping. "Eeeeuuhh...I...shouldn't've said that, should I've?" he asked.

Travis was about to rebuke him when his father sighed. "Well, in that case, nevermind on the leaving the room part," he grumbled.

Travis blinked, then looked at him confusedly. "You're not gonna do anything to him?" he asked.

His father smirked. "Well, if they can survive all this time and tell me that without any signs whatsoever of being cursed, I'd say they can take this," he said. He then straightened his mouth again. "And I bet they know something about this, too," he added.

Travis gulped. "What?"

His father was silent again for a few moments. Then, he looked at Travis and barked, "TRAVIS! SHIFT!" in an echoing voice.

Travis yipped as, suddenly, he involuntarily flashed and, with the sounds of his pants' seat, shirt, and socks tearing, transformed. Frank and Dorian made a simultaneous, ""WOAH!"" at this. Yena barked the same word, in his language, of course.

Travis blinked, a little surprised at this, and looked at himself. "Err...What?" he asked.

Travis' family gasped. "So it's true..." his mother said gently.

"No fair..." Johnny muttered, looking a little pouty.

Travis' father looked surprised, then he closed his eyes and chuckled. "So, I was right to follow my instincts and watch the state of your dreams a few nights ago from my own...I'm very proud of you, son," he said. "You're the first one in our family who's reacted to that command. Thus..." He looked up with an obvious mixture of pride and envy. "...you've conquered the beast within."

Travis blinked, then shook his head, shaking his paws as well. "No, no, no, that's not completely true," he said. "It wasn't all me--I got help. Don't treat me like some sorta hero and don't...ask...er..." He looked at the information-hungry glints in his family's eyes. He sighed, whiskers and ears drooping. "If you guys wanna hear it..." He nodded and looked up. "Basically, what happened was that, one night, I woke up, wondered where my friends were, and re-met an evil spirit that I had not really heeded earlier that sunset when it was in the form of an old hag. It basically tried to get me killed or something, and sent loads of other evil spirits like will-o-wisps and such, or at least attracted them, to my friends. It also caused me to trip, fall, and get me acquainted with Miss Luna."

"After that, he turned crazy and tried to kill us," Frank said, making a sort of cat smile. He laughed as Travis barked, "NOT HELPING!!"

Travis cleared his throat and continued. "Basically, though, that's what happened next. I was trapped in my mind as normal, but I was so nervous and confused and freaked out, since earlier I had given in to the peer pressure my friends gave me and the experience still had some tremors, I guess, but I was so in a state, I didn't really feel like I could do anything when faced with the beast. The frightening part was that it seemed, this time, the thing was HUGE!!" He spread his arms up to emphasize. "I mean, like, head as big as our house, huge!! And he was more frightening than ever, too..." He shuddered and looked down a bit. "I wondered if that night was the night that, if I lost to him...he'd kill me..."

At this, exclamation points dinged above both Frank's and Dorian's heads, and they whipped them to look at their friend. ""KILL you? Where'd THIS come from?!"" they asked.

"Whenever a werewolf falls prey to the full moon," Johnny said, holding up a finger, "he or she enters an arena inside their mind. They can see what they're seeing, but mostly, it's like they're in another realm. There, they are faced with a very big and strong and scary wolf, which is the embodiment of the curse controlling the victim. They fight for the entire night, or at least until one of them is defeated. Every night, the large beast usually wins. Each time he does, he gets stronger and scarier and larger, and the next time, he wins more and more easily. Then, one night, he's so huge, strong, and frightening, he's able to kill the victim. That's the victim's very self in there, you know. Once the victim dies, the spirit controls them forever until death. Fun, no?" he asked, smiling.

Travis sighed. "Yeah, scads of it," he said. "I bet the power of that evil spirit amplified its own power, which made it so huge." He nodded and continued. "But, anyway, there I was, and I was feeling so hopeless, so desperate, I cried out for help as loud as I could." He then looked up in memory. "Then, I heard this music...and I saw, from the window that was my eyes, three men in black leap onto the road. The center one showed a badge and said..." He stood up and got into the exact pose and imitated Lock, saying, "'The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!'" He stayed standing as he continued with enthusiasm. "Then, it was AMAZING! I just felt so much energy as I heard The Faders' 'No Sleep Tonight,' and...I just had to move!! I was swaying with the beat, I felt so pumped! With that vigor, I went and I fought that beast with all my heart. All the time, the Agents were cheering me on, and I know that, without their help, I wouldn't be here today." He sighed and smiled wistfully, sitting back down. "So, it's really not that big a deal, since the hero work was done mostly by them. I just dealt the finishing blows. I didn't even think I'd totally get rid of it, at least knock it out, but I did it." He chuckled. "And in time to avoid nailing a tree, too!" he added.

A moment passed, with looks of amazement, envy, and thoughtfulness on his mother's, brother's, and father's faces, respectively. "Interesting," said the gruff-faced man. "Very. But still, what's done is done. It was your hand--or paw, really--that dealt the final blow to that beast. You're free from that curse for the rest of your life. It doesn't matter if you were assisted--especially in this case. It sounds like these men were nothing but very good cheerleaders."

Travis nodded. "Yeah, that's what they said, I think...it sounds about right," he said. His face brightened. "So, when I'm having these dreams, it doesn't mean anything bad?" he asked. "I mean, dreams of me--"

"--fighting the beast," finished his father, looking stern again, "yes, they mean something. While you've defeated the beast, sadly, as long as you still live, the curse's primary transformation aspect still remains, unless you truly wish to be rid of it...?" He raised his eyebrow.

Travis laughed. "Yeah, right, and lose what just may be the only thing that's gonna get me lai--OW! What was that for, Dorian?" he asked, massaging his arm where his friend had elbowed him. Dorian pointed to the young boy in the room, and Travis said, "Oh." He chuckled. "Well, you get my point."

His father smirked. "All too well," he said, grinning to his wife, who blushed profusely. He shook his head. "Well, that curse is, by the way, one that you are able to tame. You have accomplished the hard part--defeating the beast for good in battle. Now, you must free that beast's mind from the clutches of the curse." Travis raised his eyebrows at this as his father nodded. "Yes, every time someone is bitten by a werewolf, they start to carry two separate souls. One is theirs, and another, a much more distant soul that can only be felt in the subconscious or when the bond between the two is great, is of the consciousness that is needed to control your body during the curse. Why this is, nobody knows. The popular theory is that, since the curse has been around so long, it's weakened somewhat."

Travis grinned. "Glad it has, then," he said, then looked serious. "So what are you saying I should do? Free its mind? How?" he asked.

His father nodded. "Yes, free his mind," he said. "You must do this by simply sleeping within a room adorned with complex seals and symbols designed to channel the power of moonlight, a crucial element in lycanthropy, to wash away the darkness blinding the beast's soul. With it gone, you two may now communicate during sleep. He will have his own personality and, sadly, may decide to be hostile to you, anyway. Believe it or not, many aren't, however," he added, smiling. "So I've heard, at least."

Travis nodded, looking thoughtful. He stroked his wolfy beard. "Where could one of these rooms be?" he wondered.

"Upstairs," his mother said simply, shrugging.

Travis laughed. "No, really," he said. After a moment of silence, his smile dissolved right off, as if it was sugar dropped into a glass of water. "...Really?" he asked in disbelief.

Upon later being led up to the room, he couldn't help but say, "Well, I'll be damned."

"Let's hope not, son," his father chuckled, leading him inside.

Travis looked around in wonder as his friends followed. 'I don't remember this room before...but, then, well, I never really searched for secret rooms in our house before...' The room was white and opened out to the heavens--before it was noted that that was merely a glass roof. Indeed, many strange, complex symbols, diagrams, and other such pictures were etched around the entire room. "I suppose tonight or sometime soon I'll be in here?" he asked.

"Yes," his mother said, smiling. "It's a clear night tonight, and, though the moon isn't full, there's going to be enough to work. That's the best part--the linework is so well-done, it maximizes the light filtering from above!"

"Um, question?" Frank asked, raising a hand. The others turned to him. "Yeah, why does moonlight work? I know it's bright, but if you're banishing darkness, wouldn't sunlight work?"

Travis' father chuckled. "It IS sunlight, ninny," he reminded him, waggling a finger. "But it must be moonlight because of the nature of the curse. Besides, it's the only thing that werewolves are able to really work with."

"As I've discovered," Travis said proudly. His face fell. "It...doesn't do much against that evil spirit, though, and I needed salt to finish it off. Had to basically save the Agents and their friends, too, while I was at it."

His father raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? So your debt to them is repaid?" he asked.

At this, Travis shook his head vigorously, hair going to and fro. "Not to me, no," he said. "I still feel like...like...It's just that I owe my life to them," he said, holding his paws palm up to emphasize. "I...I want to help them in any way I can. I don't know how, but..."

His father sighed and put a hand on his furry shoulder. "Son, you've saved their lives. Don't feel that you need do more," he advised.

Travis frowned up at him, but said nothing.

During the day, the group talked, caught up on each others' news, and even had a few for-fun battles. Travis preferred to be human by daylight, actually, one reason being that when he was all covered with hair, he got quite uncomfortable under the Hoenn sun. He battled sometimes with Yena, who was quite willing to battle, despite his cowardice. He trusted Travis' commands, though, and was able to win quite a few battles. Travis only had Yena, while Frank had with him a manectric nicknamed Volt, a crobat nicknamed Crowbar, a kangaskhan--who actually was his family's pet before she insisted on joining him on his journey--nicknamed Belle, with her child nicknamed Joey for the time being, and finally his starter from Sinnoh, a prinplup nicknamed Bubba. Frank was actually quite good at battling, and whenever he had his pokémon out, he was quite a force to be reckoned with. He owned three badges. Dorian actually had with him two pokémon, a scyther and a haunter, both nickname-less, but preferred not to battle. He was actually into Contests, specifically the Super Contests. He has won one ribbon. Travis is just going around for the heck of it, really.

Speaking of Travis, he really had a debate nagging him in the back of his mind, but he never said anything about it.

At last, nightfall came, and so everyone went inside for dinner. As soon as he was done, Travis stood up. "Can we go now?" he asked. If he was in his wolf form, he would definitely be wagging his tail.

His father and mother chuckled at this. "Oh, calm down, you little pup," his father teased him. "Let us finish eating first, then we'll get you fixed up."

Frank and Dorian got gleams in their eyes. "May we watch too, Mr. Monkshood?" asked Dorian.

Travis' father shook his head, frowning. "It's for werewolves only, sorry," he said. Frank and Dorian bowed their heads down, going, "Awwww..." He smiled at Yena, who was also disappointed and doing the same thing, though, and said, "You may come, though, Yena, since you're a wolf pokémon." He grinned evily. "Then you could tease Frank and Dorian about how cool it looked!"

Yena barked happilly, wagging his tail, and was all bright until he realized something. "Wait," he said, tilting his head and looking baffled. "How am I gonna do that if they can't understand me?"

Travis' father laughed, a big, hearty one. "Oh, then I guess you CAN'T tease them afterwards!!" he laughed, and Yena bowed his head and whined in disappointment while the others laughed.

Soon, though, Travis was eagerly dashing upstairs. His parents came after, silently. They reached the secret room's entrance, hidden behind a wooden panel in the wall, and entered. Travis gazed at the work-of-art of a room as it was now bathed in moonlight--it was unearthily beautiful from it. In fact, the designs glowed softly with the gathered moonlight Travis remembered using before. Yena, who had padded up after anyway, just gaped in wonder before going, "Preeettyyyyyyy..."

The werewolf family chuckled at this, but the parents' faces went grim. They closed the door behind them, and Travis noticed another set of lines on the inside part of the door. It seamlessly connected with the other lines and suddenly, the room was brighter from the now warm, not just soft, glow of the designs. "Travis," his father said.

"Yeah?" he asked. He didn't like the tone in his father's voice.

His father sighed, looked at his wife, and nodded. Back to Travis, he said, "I'd normally love to do things well and without any complications to weigh you down, but..." He closed his eyes. "The real reason we called you here was to tell you...tell you that...that..." He could get it out.

Travis gulped as his heart sank. "This had better be another joke..." he muttered.

His mother finally spoke up. "Travis, I'm sorry to say, but...the next night of the full moon, we're going to...to be killed by the beast within..." she said softly.

Travis paled, his heart plummeting to his stomach, and he took a step back. "Wh-WHAT?!" he shouted. "No! You guys are strong werewolves! You've always handled the beast within!!"

His father looked away. "But...there's a problem..." he said. "It's about Johnny...and you..."

"You see, Travis," his mother said, putting her hands together, "one night, recently, we met a man who looked rather...odd. He felt empty to us. We were taking a trip in Kanto at the time, someplace along the path between Vermillion and Cerulean, and stumbled down a ledge. We discovered that someone had built a laboratory down there...and..." She shuddered.

"...That man approached us," said Travis' father. "He looked pale, grim, and the feeling of emptiness we felt from him was powerful, not to mention the amount of pure power we felt radiating from him. He told us that we were trespassing, and he said that he knew that we were a pair of werewolves. Don't ask me how he knew, but he did," he shook his head. "But basically, he said that he hated us and, because we trespassed on his property, punished us by giving us a choice. Choose to die soon or face our kin's demise."

Travis gulped. "You...You're not joking..." he said, putting a hand to his mouth. "But...why did he do this?! He can't be so...so heartless that he'd just go and, BAM!, knock off your kids just because you accidentally discovered his laboratory!"

They shook their heads. "Travis, I believe that there's something going on between that spirit you found and that man," his father said. "Because, you see, when we escaped from him--because after he said that, we felt such fear that we wanted to run--we also felt, nearby, a faint malevolent presence. The further away from it we got, the more courage we regained."

"Last full moon, when we were fighting the beast, it was quite larger than before. We were both JUST able to defeat it, but we know that the next time, we'll not be so lucky," she described. "That evil spirit DID amplify the curse. We know it. And we know that there's no way that we could get those men to help us."

Travis laughed and shook his head. "Oh, don't worry," he said. "Just scream, 'HEEAAAALLP!!' as loud as you can, and they'll be there," he said confidently.

His parents shook their heads. "Son, you ever hear of the Ouendan?" asked his father. After a headshake, he said, "They're a trio of three young people who have been seen going through Johto and Kanto. They are cheerleaders, as their name sugg-"

"WAIT!!" Travis said, snapping his fingers into a gunpoint gesture. "I know them! I met them on the way to Cerulean! There was a guy with a ponytail in a black gakuran, and two others, one girl with her hair over one eye and a boy with slicked back hair, both wearing blue military-type uniforms!"

"They had a dratini with them, too," Yena piped up, "and Frank almost caught a totodile and a teddiursa that were with them, too, before Frank and that ponytail guy stopped him."

Travis' folks nodded, looks of mild surprise on their faces. "Well, then," his mother said, "what were they doing, perchance? Where were they heading?"

Travis thought, wondering at the straying from the real meat of the matter. "Well, I think they headed for Vermillion...why?" he asked.

The two adults raised eyebrows and looked at each other, then shook their heads. "No, there's no chance..." Travis heard his mother mumble. "Well, Travis," she said louder, looking back at him, "from what we've heard from our friends in places nearby where they have cheered, they have only cheered for people in dire need. They work the same way as those Agents you described, but more Japanese. Those Agents appear to be from America, by the looks of them and their style of cheering. I wonder if they even consider it cheering..." She sweatdropped for a moment.

Travis nodded. "That's what I'D call cheering!" he said vehemently. "Without them, I'd be toast! I was feeling so helpless--"

"Exactly," his father interrupted. "We both are confident in our abilities and will fight to the death, but you, under your circumstances, was unable to believe in yourself like we know you can. In fact, I bet that evil spirit's presence was what caused you to lose your courage. But this time, I doubt there'll be any evil spirit to sap the fire of our spirits. That man sounded serious."

The room was silent for a moment. Finally, Yena asked, softly, "You realize he probably is going to get rid of Travis and Johnny, too, right?"

Travis raised his eyebrows. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, we realize that," said Travis' father. "However, if we can annihilate the final part of the evil curse within you, you'll be safe and could communicate with the now-wise beast within. You could defend your brother afterwards by learning how to assist him in his mind, since he's a blood relative, from your beast." He crossed his arms. "See, I hypothesize that if that evil spirit returns to haunt you, then your beast, if it's not been cured of darkness, will be given so much power that it will resurrect and have even more power than it did when you conquered it."

"I don't understand," Travis said, shaking his head. "Why can't YOU guys just use your waaaay-better-than-mine skills and defend us before that evil spirit comes back?"

His mother frowned. "Because we haven't defeated our beasts, thus cannot cure ourselves, and thus cannot learn how to help you in your inner battles," she said. "Our beasts are too much for you to take, even with us, but we're certain Johnny's is small enough for the two of you to handle. We'll teach you the ritual we're going to perform for curing your beast of darkness, but I doubt that you'll actually be able to use--" She clamped her mouth with her hand.

Travis and Yena blinked in confusion as Travis' father groaned. "Well, delcatty's outta the bag," he groaned. "See, Travis, while you can assist other werewolves in their minds like that, you can only fend off their beast. They must defeat them on their own. Our family, while we're of a rare breed that has a great deal of strength and confidence in our lupine forms, must not be able to resist the glooming power of those evil spirits. If you could at least keep your brother and yourself alive until that evil spirit is done for, then you could survive."

Travis shook his head, holding his hair, groaning. "Aarrgh! Wait, could you just put it in a nutshell what you want?" he asked. "I'm getting confused..."

Travis' father was about to speak when Mrs. Monkshood said, flatly, "We're going to cure the darkness in your beast. You have to get the technique of entering your brother's head during his beast fights and beat it off for him. You have to do this until a way is found to conquer the evil spirits. We cannot be saved, since we really do have enough confidence and hope that there is a slim chance we'll pull through next full moon, and our beasts are too powerful for you to help us with. While we are going to die, Travis, we love you and your brother very much and have faith that you can guide the both of you in life before he can manage by himself as an adult. We'd love to care for you more...but there's no choice now."

Travis stood, absorbing all of this. "But...I..." he began, but knew that his parents were resolute on this. He sighed, closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and nodded. "I...understand...I don't like it, but..." He shook his head and opened his eyes, a tear flying out. "Okay. I get it. So let's do this so we can get to helping my brother as soon as possible."

His parents nodded and stepped forward. Yena looked up, a lost look on his face. "No...that's it...?" he asked. "You can't do anything?"

Travis sighed and crouched down to his friend, smiling. "Yena, there're times in life where you have to do something you really don't want to do, but have to if you want the best ending possible in that situation," he said. "You have to bite the bullet. That's what being brave is all about--doing what you're afraid of doing even though you know it's not all going to work out perfectly. That's life." He gently stroked Yena's fur as he spoke. "So I'm being brave, now. You be brave, too, by just keeping on keepin' on. Things will only get worse if you stop trying."

Yena whined, but nodded. "Alright," he said. He stood up and got out of Travis' parents' way, sat down again, and smiled at Travis. "Say hi to that wolf guy you guys are talking about!" he said.

Travis chuckled, getting up. "That's the ticket, Yena," he said. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he looked up to his parents and nodded.

A few moments later, he was transformed and lying down on a narrow table in the center of the otherwise empty room. He was looking directly at the moon. 'I can feel the moonlight suffusing throughout my being,' he thought. 'Such power...I can't use it to help my parents at all...?'

"Close your eyes, son."

He did so. He felt his mother wave her hands over his body and heard a low hum start in the room. He couldn't see around him, but the designs became intensely bright. Then, the light all shifted from the designs into the center of his body, causing him to glow brightly. His fur rippled, he felt his muscles tighten, his bones crack, and his chest almost leaping with the sheer energy, and, strangely, he abruptly fell asleep.

He dreamed he was in a black room, and couldn't see anything for quite some time.

In the meantime, his body in reality began to sort of...phantomically grow. As if he was growing, flashes of his body sort of burst out, but then flashed back. Like a flickering candle, everyone saw flashes of him growing and changing. While he himself remained normal, the "phantom" him grew black-furred, and after a time, a head could be seen coming from the body, with glowing red eyes and frighteningly long teeth. The form soon rolled off the table and onto the floor, and they could feel the weight of it, though it was insubstantial. It continued to grow, and it growled at the three others in the room.

""Beast within our son,"" Travis' parents addressed, the moonlight in the room causing them to transform, as well. Travis' father's werewolf form was intensely strong-looking, with scars on his chest in a lowercase "t" tilted diagonally, making a sort of "X" on his left pectoral. His mother was more graceful, and had an savage beauty to her slender, agile, and--since she didn't grow at all except for her tail and head--still-clothed form.

Travis, in his dreams, opened his eyes and saw that he was looking at a mirror. He gasped as he saw that he was the beast, an enormous monster. 'What the...?!' His ears pricked as he heard his parents:

""We demand that you release the darkness binding your spirit to the curse of lycanthropy and free its vile hold!! Let the moon's brilliance infuse your body with more power than you could obtain from the darkness!""

Travis saw himself grow more, and soon saw his old body form in place of the other forming around him. 'Holy...' he gaped.

Outside, the dark form was growling and starting to spasm. The flickering grew more severe.

Thrusting their now-glowing paws out to it, Travis' parents shouted, ""BEGONE, DARKNESS!! QUAIL BEFORE THE POWER OF THE LIGHT WITHIN THE DARKNESS, THE LIGHT OF HOPE, COURTESY OF THE MOON!!""

''The...The Light of Hope...'' Travis repeated to himself, looking at himself as a ball of light lit up a foot in front of his chest.

Outside, the beast howled as, suddenly, the designs flared up with moonlight again, and Travis was lost in a ball of light. The beast, flickering in and out as if a strobe light was the only way to see it, gave one last glare to the three wolves below before burning away from the light. There was no flames, but the same effect happened: holes appeared, shriveled up, and ate away the being. The smoke made was obliterated by the light. Then, when it was all gone, the light faded.

Travis felt a deep growling and gasped as, in the mirror, he saw the beast, full-grown at the height of a skyscraper. 'Wh-what?! It's still here?!' he yipped.

Then, something else caught his attention. Oddly, he began to feel a beat pulse from the ball of light in front of it, and gasped as it, suddenly, formed into a musical note before him. He looked at the note of light, pulsing in a beat. 'What IS this?' He reached for it and felt the beat grow stronger.

'The gift within you,' he heard a deep, growly voice say.

With a gasp, Travis turned and saw the face of the beast in front of him. He yipped in fright. 'What...Why aren't you gone?!' he asked. 'You look just the...wait...'

The eyes of the wolf were bright, blue, and natural. Before, Travis remembered the beast's eyes were all glowing red, no pupil or whites or anything. It smiled, then abruptly gave Travis a gigantic slurp, soaking him with saliva. 'You may call me whatever you like...but give me a male's name, for, since you are, so am I,' he greeted him.

Travis mopped his front as best he could, then sputtered, 'Wait, you're...so you're good, now?'

The beast nodded. 'Thank your parents for me,' he said. 'I owe them for awakening the true self within the darkness that had hidden me. Oh, and--' he gave another slurp, causing Travis to squawk, '--congratulations on beating one of the most vile curses known to mankind. Though, in my opinion, it HAS weakened slightly...or perhaps that is only because of...' He chuckled and shook his head. 'No matter. You're safe, now.'

Travis shook himself dry this time. 'Could you stop slurping me?' he asked. 'You're kinda...well, you're ruining my hair,' he reasoned, fixing it.

The beast chuckled. 'Alright. But please, name me. Who am I?' he asked.

Travis bowed his head and crossed his arms in thought, putting a leg over another as he sat down in a chair in his floating state. 'Erm...Alright...How about...Uh...' He thought for a moment and decided to go with the first name that had popped into his head. 'How about Jet?' he suggested.

'Alright, then I am Jet,' said the beast. 'Now, let me just explain: I am actually the embodiment of your feral power. How large I am is an indication of the limit of your power.' He chuckled and looked at himself in relation to Travis. 'You can become extremely powerful, if you want, in my opinion.'

Travis gaped. 'You're...You're from me?' he asked, pointing to himself. 'You're a PART of me? I mean, from the start?'

Jet nodded. 'Yes. But now, I want to say something before you awake...I want to say it now.' His face looked serious. 'Just because you can be powerful doesn't mean that you will be strong...it means that you'll be powerful overall. In this case...if you look behind you...' Travis did, and gasped. Jet smiled. '...You'll see what will most likely make up the bulk of your power.'

The note had grown ENORMOUS, and was pulsing quite strongly. Flames were leaping around it. 'I thought I felt something,' Travis mumbled.

'That is the powerful talent resting within you...and, if you search hard enough, perhaps in your friends,' Jet explained. Things began to brighten all around and he asked, voice fading into his ears as Travis awoke, 'Can you tell what it is by its appearance...?'

Travis awoke, opening his eyes to a normal room with a glass roof, looking out into the night. "Groove," he whispered.

"What?" Yena asked as Travis turned to sit up on the table.

Travis shook his head. "Nothing," he said. He looked at his parents, who had reverted to human form. "You guys...thanks." He smiled at them briefly, but then got up and moved to the door.

"So? What did he say?" asked his mother, smiling and trying to help his mood. "Is he nice?"

Travis chuckled. "Well, Mom, when a wolf goes and slurps your entire body, foot to head, would you say that it likes you?" he asked, smirking.

His parents laughed. "Well, that's good," his mother said. She then stretched. "All that magic stuff's got me tired."

"Me, too," his father yawned. "It takes a lot to transform without having just defeated your beast..."

"G'night, then, guys," Travis said, smiling and holding a paw up to them. "Hey, Yena, I want to tell the guys what happened. Wanna--"

"Coming!!" Yena barked, and Travis laughed as the two walked out of the room.

When they were gone, Travis' father sighed shudderingly. "Think it was better not to tell him that we really doubt we'll survive?" he asked.

"He'd feel obliged to try and save us," said Travis' mother. "It's for the best."

"...But if his beast liked him enough to give him a slurp...maybe he showed him something that he thinks he might be able to help us with..."

"...But there's no way that he could...At this point, the only way we can live..." She looked at her husband. "...is if we can defeat the beasts for good...and alone. Those people can't possibly get here in time to help us...and Travis can't leave and tell them..."

Travis' father put a hand on his wife's shoulders. "We're going to die young, I know it sucks," he said softly. "But we can't help it." He looked up at the moon. "Nobody can..."

Travis crossed his arms going downstairs. 'That's all I can say...groove...' he thought. He furrowed his brow. 'I know I've always loved singing, dancing, and playing the trumpet, and have been told to be quite good at them...but...how can having musical talent have power enough to be considered important? Jet was as big as a building, and he said that my musical talent would make up the bulk of the power he represents...but...why?'

"Trav! How'd it go?"

Travis yipped very softly in surprise as he jerked his head up and looked to the side. He'd reached the foot of the stairs and was in the living room. Frank and Dorian were sitting there, doing nothing--probably listening to what was going on above. They were giving him friendly smiles. He gave one back, as did Yena. "Oh, it went great!" he replied. "I'm now free of the curse, and can transform whenever I want, no longer forced to change every full moon." He grinned with his fangs and joked, "Though, I won't guarantee that you won't be seeing me howl to the moon once in a while!"

Frank and Dorian laughed with him. In that moment, Travis suddenly remembered the ending of the "No Sleep Tonight" scene, with everyone laughing. His eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. '...No way...' He looked at himself. '...Could...Could I...?'

-

Yeah, sorry for the OC-heavy chapter. I know, the 0 people who are still reading this want to see better story and LESS OC involvement, I'm sure, but mind you, I write fanfiction as practice for writing original fiction and as a way to live out my "what if I was in that game" fantasies; don't be surprised to find a great deal of OC's in my fanfics. Anyway, I'll be writing about these guys more as their story unfolds, and I'll be including a character whose inclusion will really make me think: 'Should I put this in Video Game X-overs or leave it here?' Since it's mostly about the EBA/Ouendan, while the PKMN world is just a setting, I think I'll leave it here...wait, that contradicts my KH fanfics, which use PKMN chars and KH as a setting...er...Well, the story itself is more based around EBA, here. So yeah. Anyway, though, I'm in the middle of the next chapter, which brings us back to Lock and co., so hang on!

P.S. I'm considering inserting an original song here, but not one that's going to affect the story majorly. As in, there won't necessarily be a stage to it. Would anyone like for me to try that? Would they be okay with it?


	17. Aisle 10

(17)( ) (Turn) (to) (Cheat)

Well, it's about TIME I get to narrate again!! Anywho, me, Hunter, Meyers, and Ash and the gang had been walking through the boonies for a while because Dawn insisted on visiting a good hot spring out in the middle of nowhere. It WAS great, but we'd been roughing it for a while. Therefore, we weren't doing the best, especially since we were running low on provisions again(when you travel in a group this large, that can happen fast). You can imagine our joy when we found a town after walking the road awhile, and especially after we saw that it had a big supermarket there.

"FINALLY!!" Meyers panted, catching sight of the supermarket. "I haven't had some nice, cold pop for a WHILE!!"

Hunter snickered. "Well, I haven't had a nice, cold soda for a while," he said.

Meyers frowned. "It's 'pop,' kid," he said.

Hunter grinned. "Oh, didn't you mean an ice cream?" he asked.

Meyers pouted. "No, I meant that sweet, liquid substance that's bad for your teeth if you drink too much," he replied.

Hunter snapped his fingers. "Oh, so you meant Kool-Aid!" he realized, smiling that he'd gotten it.

Meyers growled and clenched his fists. "I meant stuff like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Sprite, THAT stuff!" he shouted.

Hunter nodded. "Ah...It's called 'soda,' you know," he said, pointing a finger at him.

Meyers waved his arms. "NO! It's called 'pop,' idiot! Everyone knows that!! 'Soda' is the stuff you use in baking!"

Hunter shook the finger. "No, no, no, it's the drink," he said admonishingly.

Meyers put his arms down and crossed them, pouting at him. "'Soda' is that Arm & Hammer stuff."

"Then 'pop' is ice cream." Hunter argued back calmly.

"No, it's the carbonated drink!"

"Oh, sparkling water?"

"No! The SWEET one!"

"Oh, you mean 'soda'!"

"'Soda' is a kind of bread, idiot!"

"Not it's, not."

"Then 'pop' is the drink."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not. It's your father."

Ash joined in. "If 'pop''s your father, ice cream, sparkling water, and Kool-Aid, and 'soda''s that Arm & Hammer stuff and a kind of bread, and neither are the soft drink, then why is it that 'soda pop' IS the drink?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking confused.

They turned to him with confused looks. ""What's 'soda pop?'" they asked.

"The thing you guys are talking about!"

"What, you mean 'pop'?" asked Meyers.

"No, he's not talking about a punch," Hunter told him.

"NO! 'Pop''s not a punch! It's...well, it COULD be a punch, I guess some would say," he said after a while.

"No, not really, Hawaiian Punch is just a soft drink, not a soda."

"Ah! So THAT'S what a 'soda pop' is!" Meyers said in the same way Hunter had realized Meyers was talking about Kool-Aid.

Ash shook his head. "NO, no, no! 'Soda pop''s the fizzy stuff!" he said.

"Well, I didn't know you drank champaign, Ash!" Hunter stated, surprised and raising his eyebrows. "I thought you were non-alcoholic and only drank stuff like soda."

"No, you mean 'pop,' Hunter," Meyers said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, 'soda'."

"'Soda' is a kind of bread, Meyers said that already," Ash pointed out.

"No, actually, it's a name for sodium," Meyers informed the trainer.

"Oh, yeah...wait, no, I think it's a...faro card, I think, shown faceup before playing in some card game," Ash informed the Agent.

"No, it's sodium."

"A face-up faro card."

"Sodium."

"Faro card."

"No, no! It's pop!" said Hunter, looking annoyed. "That's what I've been..." He realized what he'd just said, then "D'OH!"ed.

Ash and Meyers pointed at him, grinning victoriously. ""HAH! YOU LOSE!!"" they said. "You forgot in our little arguement, didn't you?" Ash asked, crossing his arms.

Hunter sighed, holding his arms up. "Yup, you caught me with that faro card thing," he said. "Where'd you learn that, anyway?"

"Read it in a dictionary once," Ash said, shrugging and grinning.

Hunter sighed while Meyers said, blinking, "Wait, that means you win, Ash." Then Meyers sighed.

Ash grinned wider and chuckled, putting his finger under his nose in victory.

The rest of us laughed. "You guys are the weirdest people in the Agency," I said, shaking my head.

"You guys are just weird, period," Dawn said, holding her hands up. "Including you, Ash."

Ash shouted, "Hey!" before laughing with everyone else.

Finally, we reached the town, Citareen. All hustle and bustle, it was alive with energy in the middle of the bright day. We all went and caught a bite to eat at a restraunt that had, of course, a soda fountain. While there, I spotted a guy on violet roller blades going along quite recklessly, carrying a can of spray paint in one hand. He had on black ear buds (I hate those things, personally, and Spin agrees with me back home), Agent Smith-style shades, and a blue do-rag, from under which a sprout of light brown hair grew. As for clothes, he wore a basic white t-shirt with a broad, horizontal, orange stripe on the middle and a pair of baggy, dark grey cargoes with yellow trim around the cargo pockets. Behind him were a couple officers, chasing him.

"STOP, you vandal!" cried the lead officer, waving his billy club, before stopping and panting. "Ugh...too fast..."

The other one stopped next to him, doing the same. "Man, that kid's a troublemaker..." he commented.

We blinked and looked as the blader skated off--taking a glance at us before disappearing behind a building. I raised an eyebrow and looked the way he had come. I raised the other one when I saw, on a large wall of a building, a VERY good graffiti tag that read, "YOU ROCK!" in a style somewhat reminiscent of the same words at the finish of each successful Guitar Hero song. That wasn't the game this whole scene reminded me of, however.

"Oh, man, I haven't played that game in ages," said Meyers, practically reading my mind.

"Yeah, I hope they make a sequel," I said, smiling in reminiscence.

"What game?" asked Dawn, nibbling her sandwich.

"Oh, a game for Microsoft Xbox and SEGA Dreamcast," I said. "Pretty obscure, you wouldn't've heard of it."

At 'SEGA,' everyone withing earshot except us Agents made what looked like some sort of involuntary twitch of some sort. We noticed this, and Hunter, I noticed, resisted laughing after a couple moments. I decided not to look into it.

After resting and eating at the restraunt, we walked over to the grocery store to experience a bit of air conditioning--it was a bit warm that day--and to restock our food supplies. (We left our bags at the Center there, since it was near the store and we could hack carrying a few bags from point A to point B.)

We were in line when I a guy cut in front of me. I felt my badge rumble in my coat pocket, but it didn't beep. 'Funny, I didn't know it had a rumble feature,' I thought, bringing it out. It only read, "PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU," though, so, puzzledly, I put it away. I glanced to the others, who were looking as confused as I was, and shrugged.

--

The supermarket was moderately busy. There were a number of people there, but not a great deal. The line we were in had us, the guy in front of me, a woman in front of him, and a couple more people. Really, it wasn't that bad, as it was the express lane. We knew we'd be out quick.

The man in front of me, who was a bit chubby, wore a casual, black t-shirt with a skull and crossbones on the front under a big, jacket-like denim vest, a pair of red zipoffs in full length, and a pair of brown, basic sandals. He had short black hair and green eyes. I saw a scar on his right arm going from his bicep to halfway down the back of his forearm.

(Cecil Scribe, 31, Bartender at local tavern, The Candied Citrine)

He sighed, holding his bag of groceries. "Express lane my butt," he mumbled to himself.

"Tell me about it." The woman in front of him must of heard him. She wore a red pair of capris, a yellow tanktop, a gold bracelet on her left wrist, no makeup, and white sneakers. Her hair was medium and black with a few streaks of bright, electric green. "I think the machine's broken. There's a guy there crouching and doing something behind it."

Cecil chuckled and smirked. "Yeah, bet he's breaking it more," he joked.

"From the sounds of it, he is," the woman joked back, turning to look at him. Her ruby eyes widened as Cecil's widened. "...Cecil...?"

Cecil nearly dropped his bag. "Arlene?" he asked.

Arlene gave an unsure smile. "Well," she said a bit nervously, "fancy meeting you, here."

Cecil smiled. "I'll say," he said. "It's felt like an age since I've seen you. How've you been?"

Arlene looked away a bit. "Fine, fine," she replied.

Cecil hesitated, then said, "I'm sorry about that night. Ever since, I swear, I've stopped drinking." He grinned. "I'm a completely reformed alchoholic!"

'That's not something you announce to the world,' I thought, sweatdropping.

Arlene looked skeptical. "You could barely move forward," she recalled. She looked him up and down. "You don't look much different. You still that coward, looking to the bottle and ol' 'Liquid Courage' at all?"

Cecil shook his head vigorously, waving his hands. "O-Of COURSE not!" he insisted. He didn't sound that sure. "I'm a lot braver and can look after myself and handle life as it comes, trust me!"

Arlene gave him a last skeptical glance before facing the register. "Man, IS he breaking it more?" she asked.

Suddenly, from every other check-out register, including ours, a man with a face mask and a gun or a pokéball that had just released a tough-looking pokémon sprang up and aimed at everyone. "EVERYONE FREEZE!!" called the one from our check-out.

Behind me, Ash was about to do something heroic, but I reached back and grabbed him, shaking my head. I motioned to the guns they had, and he understood, grudgingly, that he couldn't do anything this time.

"We want ALL your cash, as well as any of that fancy gormet stuff you're getting!" continued another robber.

But by now, while some people were standing with arms in the sky, most were running in a panic for cover and creating chaos. The guy at our register sweatdropped and looked over to his left. "They're, well, not..." he trailed off.

The guy he was talking to sighed. "Well, lemme try..." he said, before aiming up and firing. Silence followed...for a second. Then EVERYONE was running around, except us, of course, and our line. "...It works in the movies!!"

"IS SOMEONE SHUTTING THE DOORS?!" called another guy. Someone yelled a positive response. "GOOD!"

"So what now, continue?" asked another guy.

"Yeah, plan B!"

The robbers with pokémon commanded them to use various moves that prevented escape. Many people now found themselves trapped.

Cecil gulped as a rhydon trapped our line, which was, technically, the one with the most people left standing still(technically because, being Agents and being with the main characters, we really don't REALLY count because we're supposed to be brave). "Oh...my..." he trembled.

"Brave, huh?" asked Arlene, hands on her hips while she gave an unimpressed look to Cecil.

"Oooh, spunky," said the robber from our line, striding over. "I like 'em like that." He was one of the guys with a gun, so he was able to get away with grabbing her with one arm and pointing at us all. "Alright, everyone, you heard!! ALL your stuff!!"

Arlene yelled, "LEGGO'V ME, YOU CREEP!!" before her mouth was covered up.

"Arlene!" Cecil shouted, taking a step forward just to have his forehead meet a gun muzzle. He instantly stopped and paled. "No..."

"No funny business, or you're going bye-bye," said the robber(though, he really didn't sound that sure of himself, to us).

Cecil instinctively reached to his side, then paled. 'Oh, no!' he thought, as I could hear because the badge, muffled and audible only to us Agents because of the masking noise around us, was able to do that with targets(MAN, Ms. Foxx amazes me to this day with her gadgets!). 'I forgot...I quit drinking...' We saw Cecil trembling. 'But...Arlene...'

"Brave, huh?" Her words echoed in his head, as was her unimpressed face. He trembled more. '...I love her...' He couldn't take it. Completely to the surprise of the robber, he reared his head back and screamed,

**"HHEEEEEAAALLP!!"**

--

We were already whispering to one another on the song choice while we could with the robber focused on Cecil. "You know," I said, "I sorta feel inspired..."

"You think we can do it without getting shot?" asked Hunter, looking uneasilly at the gun.

"Yeah, of course!" I said confidently. "We're Agents! We're good at this by now! But as I was saying...I think I know a song from that game earlier, Meyers. You get me?"

Meyers thought hard, wondering, obviously, before raising his eyebrows. "But...wouldn't we be sorta cheating? It's...not a really well-known song, let's put it that way..."

"It's a video game song and not a normal song?" I translated, smirking. "Sure, we're cheating, but it's just so perfect!"

Hunter frowned. "We've practiced a few that I've been told are from video games, so...oh!" He grinned. "I LOVE that one! Let's do it!"

"Okay, we're set!" I said.

"What're you three mumblin' about?" the burglar asked us, still holding the gun to Cecil. He looked us up and down nervously, taking our appearance in. "What ARE you guys, government agents?"

We turned and I waggled my finger as the song began over the speakers. "Not exactly," I said, smirking, before we got ready.

-:-:-

(-)Uh-huh, oo-hoo, yeah

(-)(We need some help in aisle 10)

The robber grinned and pointed at Cecil with the gun. "Now, hand over all of your cash," he threatened.

Cecil held his hair in distress, face looking at the girl on the robber's shoulder. "Arlene..." he mumbled, seemingly not listening to the robber.

The robber anger-veined and knocked him on the head with the barrel of the gun. "HEY! LISTEN when you're at gunpoint!!" he ordered aggrivatedly. "Now gimme all the stuff you got!!"

Cecil gulped and looked like he was about to faint. Arlene gave him an unimpressed look. He saw this and thought, 'Arlene...! No...I'm being such a coward...but...'

At this point, we stepped into formation behind the robber so that Cecil could see us. I shoved my badge out.

**-:-MISSION: Supermarket Situation! Be Brave and Proove It!!-:-**

"The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" I said confidently to Cecil. "You take this guy, we'll take it from here!!"

Hunter glanced at me. "That didn't make much sense," he muttered.

I shushed him and motioned to start the waving.

(-)(Scapegoat Wax)

Cecil began to be filled with energy and started to wave along with. "WWOOOOOAAAH!!"

"""ARE YOU READY? ...3! 2! 1! GO!"""

-I see you at my job (uh-huh)

-You're carrying yourself so well (so well)

-I made myself a promise (what's that?)

-Not to get emotional (uh-huh)

-As I remain stable (stable)

-I take another glance at you (at you)

-If we were at the disco, whoa, whoa

-Then I would have to dance with you

-This isn't cool (not cool)

We began our routine to a song from the Xbox game, Jet Set Radio Future, "Aisle 10" (perhaps also known as "Hello Allison"), by Scapegoat Wax. It was a sort of interesting, as well as risky on a show like this, choice, but the moment just made me want to choose it. It'll work, though, we found out. Cecil had decided to grapple with the robber for the gun. At first, he was at a stalemate, with both him and the robber basically standing in one spot, wrestling with it, the robber using one hand and Cecil two. Arlene looked with a semi-impressed eyebrow raise. Then, one of us accidentially hit a lyric a little late, and, to our immense relief, all that happened was that the robber was bearing down onto Cecil, who, to add to the pain, was being pushed dangerously close to the rhydon's horn, which it had lowered presumably to discourage people from escaping. He was comically arching his back as best he could, caught between a rock-type and a hard place. Arlene was NOT amused. Then, I got into the groove and led us to dance so slick that Cecil was putting the robber into a wrestling-like arm lock, causing tears to come out of the criminal's eyes. Arlene was surprised at this, both eyebrows raised a bit.

Cecil and the robber were grappling along until, ironically, the robber tripped over the tail of one of the robbers' pokémon. This caused him to, with an "AAARRGH!!", fall backwards and let go of all he was holding. Arlene ran over to Cecil, looking over her shoulder. "Bleck! About time!" she griped. She then looked at Cecil and gasped.

Cecil was currently aiming at something. "Aaaand...There!" he said, firing.

The robber cringed at the sound, getting up. "Yipe!" he squeaked, then looked up. "Huh?" Promptly, he was buried to his head in large bags of pokémon food. Cecil had shot off one of the supports for the shelf it was on. "GWAGH!! OH, I GIVE UP!! GET THIS STUFF OFFA ME!!" he cried.

Arlene smirked at Cecil, who was unloading the bullets and putting them in his pocket. "Not bad, big guy," she complimented.

Cecil smiled back, chucking the useless gun away. 'Yes!!'

--**(O)**--

(-)And in my lonely eyes I see myself in eloquent strides

(eloquent strides)

(-)In a sharp tuxedo, here goes, nothing to her (what, what?)

There were a bunch of people running around, since chaos had begun to erupt after that. Other robbers were chasing them, holding guns as well. Arlene looked at the scene and fumed, clenching a fist. Then, she took off, shouting, "There's no way y'all gonna get away with this!!"

Cecil squawked and reached for her. "Are you NUTS?!" he cried in exasperation.

(Ash and co. were itching to get their pokémon out, but Meyers and Hunter shook their heads at them.)

-Hello, Allison

-I wanna hold your hand, I haven't been

-The same man since I saw you coming in

-Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10

-(We need some help in aisle 10) Hello, Allison

-I wanna hold your hand, I haven't been

-The same man since I saw you coming in

-Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10

-(Check it out)

As we swayed and grooved though the chorus, Cecil went after her in order to protect her. At first, we weren't the greatest, so he was only running along through the supermarket beside her, occasionally slowing, disarming a thug, whacking him over the head to knock him out, then scampering to keep up, while she was clotheslining them and grabbing their guns practically simultaneously. Both of them chucked the weapons away soon after getting them, taking care to first empty them of bullets. Then, for a brief moment, we did something wrong, like singing a note badly out of pitch for a second, and he was suddenly panting behind her, while she was in the front and in danger. We locked into the groove and sang and danced the best we can, and so he was quickly running in FRONT of her--which, really, was a bit overzealous and unwise; who's watching her back?--and doing what she was doing, at the same speed. Well, okay, he was just tackling and clotheslining thugs, while Arlene disarmed them, wearing an impressed and "NOW we're talkin'!" face.

Soon, they reached a produce aisle where a couple old people were cornered by a group of hoodlums (hee, hooray for synonyms!) with brass knuckles. Arlene scoffed. "Look, the knucklehead brigade!" she mocked loudly, pointing at them.

This caught their attention and they turned to the direction that the insult came from, anger-veining. "HEY! We're the BRUISER Brigade!!" they retorted. Arlene came rushing to them and tried a soccer tackle on them. They dodged it, however, and were about to attack.

"You guys look like you need a bit more FIBER in your diet!" called Cecil, grabbing a few large heads of lettuce and hurling them in the enemy's direction. With loud whacks, the vegetables collided with their targets, the heads of the thugs, causing them to fall down, spiral-eyed.

Arlene smirked, crossing her arms as she gave an impressed eyebrow raise to Cecil. "Well, I guess you're not wearing beer goggles anymore, at least," she teased.

Cecil smiled, walking over to the not-young people and helping them pick up their dropped things. "I've got my aim and priorities straight, I'm telling you!" he insisted happily as the old folks said their thanks.

--**(O)**--

(-)I seen you about a quarter after nine (nine)

(-)You shine in the neon sign, where are you from? (from)

(-)You float in like an angel at night into my life (life)

(-)And leave me with a song to write

Cecil and Arlene, now that the armed robbers were taken out, got to work, chasing after the trainer theives. "Time for us to do a little righteous poaching!!" Arlene warcried, holding a fist.

Cecil was a little reluctant that this would work well, seeing as the pokémon used by the robbers were all very large and bulky, a great deal of them being rock types. 'Couldn't they have just all used something soft, like drifloon?' he thought wearilly.

(Ash and co. were seriously about to bring their pokémon out, but this time, Pikachu made sounds and motions meaning, "No, folks, leave them be.")

-And now I'm loaded, holding my sack

-Go in the room where she is at

-With a line of customers getting mad

-They didn't see what I seen, nuh-uh

-The store queen made everything easier for one fine eve

(one fine eve)

-And in my bloodshot eyes all I can see is everything's fine

(everything's fine)

-With a turning stomach, running, thoughts through my head

(come on)

-Hello, Allison

-I wanna hold your hand, I haven't been

-The same man since I saw you coming in

-Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10

-(We need some help in aisle 10)

At first, Cecil was, for some reason(we were doing fine, I swear), pretty reluctant or something, since he was struggling pretty badly with some big pokémon, and was in fact being crushed by a kangaskahn, graveler, and rhydon (all with pretty cheery faces on at the situation) sitting, stepping, and lying on him respectively, while Arlene struggled to move them, giving him a glare. Then, we got our act together or something and he was able to escape and, with Arlene's help, wrestle down each pokémon they came across and then continue to the next one. It was quite strenuous, and they had to deal with the trainer afterwards(usually grabbing the ball and returning the pokémon). Then, he finally got our work and began taking huge, running leap kicks to the top of the standing pokémon, causing them to fall down right onto their trainers, while Arlene grappled them long enough to have them stand still for him, grinning mischeivously.

The duo eventually reached the candy aisle, where some kids were running from some, in a minor break of tradition for the day's robbery, machoke. "HEEELP!" the children screamed, dashing to Cecil and Arlene.

Arlene gulped. "M-M-Machoke...?" she stuttered, courage for once faltering a little bit. "We can't knock THEM down!!"

Cecil thought, looking at his surroundings. 'Small...I need something...' "Wait, yeah, we can!" he said, and reached down to grab something. He tossed what he had gotten, and the superpower pokémon were tripped up. With a loud, shuddering THUD, they met the ground, cracking it a little bit.

Arlene grinned. "Of course," she said, looking at the scene, "why didn't I think of that?" Cecil had thrown out the contents of a bag of hard candies.

The kids pouted and pointed at the floor. "It's a waste of perfectly good candy, that's why!" one of them answered.

Cecil and Arlene laughed.

--**(O)**--

(-)Hello, Allison

(-)I wanna hold your hand, I haven't been

(-)The same man since I saw you coming in

(-)Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10

(-)(Uh-hah)

The robbers' leader, collecting all he could, called out angrilly, "Hate to say it, but we've gotta abandon this plan, guys!" before starting to lead them out.

Arlene and Cecil growled. ""OH, NO, DON'T!!"" they cried, rushing after them armed with melons and other fruits.

I looked at my teammates. "Alright, guys, time to finish out!" I said.

-You came in here again (what, what?)

-I'm drinking by the copier (copier)

-I made myself a promise (now what was that?)

-That I would finally talk to her (huh, huh)

-As I remain stable (stable)

-I take another drink for you (for you)

-I set it on the table, whoa whoa

-I'm sure I look a drunken fool

-I'm seeing two (whoa)

-And in my lonely eyes I see myself in eloquent strides

-In a sharp tuxedo, here goes, nothing to her (w-w-w-what?)

-Hello, Allison

-I wanna hold your hand, I haven't been

-The same man since I saw you coming in

-Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10

-(We need some help in aisle 10)

-Hello, Allison

-I wanna hold your hand, I haven't been

-The same man since I saw you coming in

-Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10

-(We need some help in aisle 10)

At first, Cecil and Arlene were jogging just a bit behind, chucking stuff now and then. Then, Arlene was glaring behind her and shouting at Cecil to move it while he panted slowly along, chubby self not used to all this running. Then, because of us or her, I dunno, Cecil DID get a move on, rushing forth to be just behind the criminals, chasing them and chucking his fruit at them. Arlene was right by him, doing the same.

Finally, the proper authorities arrived. "This is the police!" Officer Jenny cried, slamming the door open. She charged in, ready for action. "Everyone...freeze?"

She stopped and looked in surprise as the entire group of robbers, and some of their pokémon who were still out, stood with their arms raised high in surrender and tears wavy-waterfalling from their eyes. They had fruit entrails all over them. "Tell that to THEM!!" they cried wailingly, and the officer looked over to see Cecil and Arlene standing there, with Arlene holding a watermelon under her arm while Cecil spun a pineapple like a basketball, both wearing smirks.

"Oh!" she said in surprise. "What happened? Do you have anything to do with the mess they're wearing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Arlene nodded and said, "Yeah, they tried holding us up. However..." She glanced and smiled over at Cecil. "...Me and our big hero Cecil took care of them. We're gonna have to pay for the food we've wasted and other minor damages, but I think that's nothing compared to what everyone else would have had to lose on these guys!"

Cecil raised his eyebrows at the compliment, then blushed. "I-I'm no hero..." he muttered. Then, to Officer Jenny, he said, "I'm sorry about the vigilantism, ma'am, but it had to be done."

Officer Jenny smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," she said, "but just for this once. And only because you obviously didn't do anything TOO bad to them..." She grinned at the parade of crooks walking out, hands and paws up, out the doors while other officers escorted them.

"Those two were awesome!" cried one small bystander, grinning and holding her bag of candy.

"Yeah, they took care of them real swell!" cried another, crossing his arms.

"Bravery to the fullest! Give 'em an award!" said one of the REAL cashiers, clapping.

Cecil and Arlene blushed while Jenny raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Well, then, I think I'll have to get a full account, but we'll see," she said. "Regardless, thank you for your help! Great job!"

Arlene held Cecil's arm. "My thoughts exactly," she said, looking up at him.

At the gesture, Cecil blushed furiously. "You...You don't hate me anymore...?" he asked in disbelief.

Arlene giggled. "No, never that," she said. "More like I just didn't really believe you. But now, I can see..." She grinned with a full face of happy. "You're a real case of true, positive reform!!"

Cecil blushed and put a hand behind his head. "Toldja so!" he chuckled.

(-)(Random lyrics from the song)

-:-:-

A few weeks later would see the two standing up on a stage, each wearing a medal for bravery. Arlene is looking admiringly at Cecil, who is grinning prouldy with a bit of a blush, holding his hands behind his back.

- - -

But waaay before this, us three Agents were standing in the middle of a check-out lane, looking at the results of our efforts. "Well, that was fun," I said. "What do you guys say?"

Meyers frowned uneasilly. "Well...I'm not so sure some of those lyrics were appropriate for the audiences we've got, remember," he muttered.

"Hey, don't worry," I said, looking over, "with the strict censorship that America's got, our 'impressionable youth' is probably safer than safe!" I laughed, but they didn't join me.

Just then, our badges went off. We pulled them out and saw the Commander in his chair again. I grinned as we got the thumbs-up. "YYEAAAAH!!"

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

...

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

...

TEUUSHH!!

--

--

--

--

-

Commander Kahn sat back down. He gave me a stern look. "This situation wasn't exactly the best to have shown to kids..." he grumbled. "But, I suppose that that is life, and couldn't be helped. Good job, Agents, regardless."

I smirked and gave a thumbs-up back to him. "Piece-a cake!" I said.

This earned me an eyebrow raise, but he must have decided not to say anything about it. "Well, you guys get your food the best you can and continue on." He paused, then said, "That'll be all. DIS-MISSED!"

"""YESSIR!!"""

We closed our badges and put them away. I smiled and walked over to Ash and company. "You guys did great in holding back and letting us handle things," I complimented.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "You? Uh...yeah, okay, thanks," he said.

I wondered at his behaivior, but shrugged it off. "Let's get our food and get moving, shall we?" I suggested.

Brock frowned, bringing his eyebrows together. "But we dropped all of it during the chaos..." he groaned.

Dawn dropped her jaw. "WHAT?! Aw, man, we have to find them all again? And this place is such a mess! We'll never get out of here!" she complained.

We all laughed at this.

Later on, we went outside the supermarket to find ourselves face to face with the grafitti artist from before. He crossed his arms and smirked at us. "Groovy," was all he said before skating off.

We looked at him, then just passed it off as another random weirdo and went on, carrying our bags of food.

Foxx examined the latest episode under her new filter an hour after the episode ended. After a few moments, she raised her eyebrows. "Hmmmm..."

The roller blader appeared to be as bright as what J would be. "Interesting," Foxx noted.

--

Sorry for the drawn-out beginning part. I wanted to be funny, but I think I killed the joke…Sorry ;;


	18. X: : : Starting Stuff at Travis's : : :X

(18)( ) (Real) (Strange) (Love)

Travis, in human form, and his friends were all out in the front yard. It was a couple of days after Travis' beast was purified. Jet, in fact, had become great friends with Travis. The two found that speaking in the latter's sleep was a great way for them to speak without the former interrupting anything important; when you're asleep, what better things do you have to do? They COULD speak while Travis was awake, but they preferred to speak during sleep. Travis had given his idea of what he thinks the power Jet spoke of was the same night he had named the behemoth.

Jet gave a thoughtful half-smile. 'Is that so?' he asked. 'Well, you're on the right track, but that's really all I can say right now.'

Travis, in wolf form at all times during these dream meetings, sighed. 'Well, at least I know I'm hitting SOMEthing,' he muttered. However, for that night and the next, he tried to wheedle more information out of his beast, but to no avail. Jet would merely act like a parent when his child was trying to coax the location of his Christmas presents out of him--playfully, firmly unwavering. When just speaking normally, though, they spoke of other things, like any pair of friends would. It WAS interesting to speak to a being that really didn't experience all the things a normal person does for itself, yet still experiences them, in a way.

Now, in the front yard, Travis had decided to reveal what basically happened to him and what he thinks he should do. "Guys?" he asked after they had played a little game of Mankey-in-the-Middle (with one poochyena and a human, or two humans, being the mankeys).

"Yeah?" said Frank, taking his hat off and fanning himself. He had been the only one to remain in the middle at all times, and was a bit warm from the workout.

Travis sighed and sat down on the porch steps. "You wanna hear what went on that night?" he asked, smiling. Instantly, Frank and Dorian were sitting in front of him, crosslegged, and looking like a pair of kids ready for storytime. The (currently human form) werewolf chuckled. "Well, okay, then...in a nutshell." He took a deep breath, then said, all in one, very quickly, "I went up and found out my parents are gonna die and I'm supposed to protect me and my little brother from some evil spirit that's gonna be doing the killing and then I laid down and fell asleep and got my beast within purified and named the now-very, very affectionate wolfy inside my being Jet and then he showed me that I have a huge power inside me and that's it." (It--saying that in one breath--actually isn't that bad, if you go fast enough...but, then, I'm a flutist, I have to take big breaths a lot anyway...) He had rehersed this before, so he didn't trip up on any of his lines when saying this all at the speed he did(think novice auctioneer).

Frank and Dorian sweatdropped, then Dorian said, "Nani?" ("Huh?" in Japanese), which was heard so in all languages out in the audience of all the people watching from the EBA/Ouendan's world. Travis chuckled and repeated what he said, but slower. After that, the two raised their eyebrows.

"Wow," Frank said. "I knew you had a lot of power, but...well, what does he mean, really?" he asked, for once actually opting to act his intelligence.

Travis crossed his arms. "That's the problem," he said. "In that dream world where I met my beast, my power appeared to me in the form of a gigantic light shaped like a musical note."

"Maybe your power lies in music?" Dorian guessed. He then blushed. "Well, wait, that's stating the obvious, ain't it?"

Travis chuckled and nodded. "Yeah," he said, "it is. But...I didn't know how that could have power." He then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees while hunching forwards and looking a little excited, a little serious, a little confused. "But the note also had flames around it," he continued. "You guys could feel it during the 'No Sleep Tonight' incedent, right?" he asked. "When I was being cheered on by the Agents, I felt as if my spirit was on fire!"

Dorian and Frank looked at each other, exchanging glances, before thinking deeply. Then, they slowly nodded, first Dorian and then Frank. "Yeah," Dorian said. "I remember, like, when I was riding you--you really aren't that good of a steed, by the way, but, then, human-like anatomies don't really allow for that sort of riding, anyway--I could feel this energy that made me feel like just waving my arms in the air like a moron, it was so good!" He smiled at the memory.

Frank nodded. "Yeah, me, too," he agreed. "When you were about to fight that hag...ghost...demon...thing, I felt the same way!"

Travis nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Now, do you think that my spirit was, in EBA's way, ignited?" he asked, looking thoughtful. After a moment, the idea obviously started to dawn on the two friends, as well as Yena, to whom Travis had not yet spoken about his idea. Travis nodded. "Guys, I know it sounds REALLY crazy," he said, motioning his hands to emphisize something big, "but I think...I think that the power within me..." He paused and put a hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat. "I think it's...it's the power to immensly increase the size of the fire of someone's spirit via the power of music..."

"In other words..." Dorian mumbled, looking in awe a little as he got the message.

"...The thing that the Elite Beat Agents can do..." Frank supplied, doing the same, but raising an eyebrow in skepticism.

Yena couldn't help but cock his head in doubt at his lycanthropic friend. "Yeah, sounds a bit crazy, Trav," he woofed with such an obviously doubtfully flat tone that Frank and Dorian laughed.

"I bet Yena agrees a bit with me," Frank said, crossing his arms. "Trav, I know you love to sing and dance, and aren't half bad at it...and that's coming from someone who likes to do that, too," he added in a low mumble while looking a little embarressed.

Travis raised his eyebrows, but just looked to Dorian. "What about you?" he asked.

Dorian shrugged. "I'm a bit skeptical, too," he admitted. "I love to sing and dance and I want to help people out, and I know that you're like that, too, but I still don't know if you can do it THAT well..."

Travis raised his eyebrows a little, grinned, then snapped both fingers and aimed finger-pistols at his friends in one smooth movement. "That's another thing," he said. "Jet also mentioned something about the same power being found in my friends. Dorian, I've known you like to perform, like me, for a while, but I didn't know you liked singing and dancing, as well. And, Frank, I didn't know you liked performing music at all. Just now, you two gave me more proof that I'm right." He gave a smirk of victory at them as put his hands on his thighs.

Frank held a finger up, giving a "Yeah, right" look while he pointed out, "Yeah, but for all we know, it, or he or whatever, could have just meant a passion for music, which we all have, if just at least to varying degrees. I love it, but not ENORMOUSLY..."

Dorian nodded, saying he was the same.

Travis frowned, leaning back and crossing his arms. "But, shoot, then," he muttered, "what DID he mean?" He thought, then shook his head. "But I'm not gonna give up," he said, leaning forwards again. "I'm sure, if we could only get the Agents here to cheer them on, that my parents could defeat their beasts once and for all, like I did. However, they're still in Sinnoh, as far as we know, and they have no really good way of getting here...as far as I know...and I don't know how to get to the Ouendan we met--cheerleaders who work similarly to the EBA according to my parents," he explained. "This leaves one option:" He stood up and held a clenched fist. "I become an Agent on my own and try my best to help them out!" His face had turned into one of feirce determination.

Dorian and Frank sighed and stood up. "You know you probably can't do it all on your own," said Dorian, holding a hand out. "And I'm sure that none of us can do it, either."

Travis clasped his hands together and looked in fervent askance. "I know, I know, it's just a hunch," he said, "but PLEASE, try it with me, please! I know I can't do it alone...and I still think that what I think's in me is in you two, as well!! I mean, think about it!" He held a hand out to Dorian. "You're a coordinater, and you command your pokémon with so much energy...I can tell, with that, you're going to be on the top quickly!!"

Dorian raised his eyebrows as he blushed at the compliment, caught with modesty and thoughtfulness at the same time. "Hmmm...Thanks...Well..."

Travis then held the other hand to Frank. "And you! You command your pokémon with the same kind of energy! You're going to be a great trainer, in the top 8 of the finals for certain!" he said.

Travis raised an eyebrow, smirking, feeling both cocky and, like Dorian, thoughtful. "That's what I'm tellin' you...but...I mean...Hmmm..."

Both lowered their heads in thought as they considered the examples.

Travis clapped his hands together again and looked almost like a dog begging with his biggest, cutest, most pathetic puppy-dog eyes. "Please! You've both got rhythm and you've both got pretty good singing skills, I'm sure! And you both can encourage and command with energy!! If you help me, I'm sure we can make at least halfway decent Agents!! Just...PLEASE!! I want to TRY and save my parents!" He was almost howling at this last sentence and tears were starting from his eyes. He then, after a pause, added, in a softer voice, "But I need your help..."

Frank and Dorian took classic cross-armed thought poses, humming in thought, for a couple moments. Then they looked at each other, then smiled and looked at Travis. "Well, I guess it's worth a shot," Frank said. "What with all the crud we put you through sometimes."

"It's the least we could do," Dorian added. "Besides, I don't want to see your parents die, either. It's worth it to at least try."

Travis looked at the two, tears dripping gently from his eyes, and blinked, a smile unfurling on his face. "You...You mean it?" he asked. They nodded. He gasped and then, grinning, hugged his friends while forgetting that, as a werewolf, he was also just a little stronger than the average human being. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!! You have no clue how important this is to me!!" he cried. Frank and Dorain gagged, saying yeah and such, and began making loud choking noises. Travis yipped and let go of them, giving them a sheepish grin. "Sorry...Just so happy, is all..."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to crush us," Frank joked. They all made a small chuckle.

"Okay," Yena said, "now what, Travis?"

Travis looked down at his friend and smiled. "Well, why don't we start by practicing something?" he suggested.

Dorian and Frank nodded. "Sure, we've got all day," Dorian said. He tilted his head. "But...what are we going to practice...?"

Travis shrugged. "Well, maybe working out what moves we're going to use...and...erm..." He sweatdropped as he realized he didn't know the first THING about what they should do.

"Travis, you remember how the Ouendan and the EBA are similar?" Yena piped up.

Travis looked down, nodding. "Yeah."

Yena smiled. "Well, you know that a cheer squad is made up of a leader and backups, right?" A nod. "The Ouendan are a cheer squad, obviously, and so when they're cheering, I suppose the backups follow what the leader does. After some practice, of course, to get it right, but that's what they'd do."

Travis raised an eyebrow and crouched down. "Yeah, so you're saying I should just do the moves and expect Tweedle-Dee and -Dumb to copy me?" he asked. He laughed at the playful whacks on his back from his friends.

Yena wagged his tail and barked, "Yep! And remember what the EBA did?" he asked.

Travis nodded, then started to catch on. "Wait, yeah, the EBA cheered me on by doing a three-man dancing routine...sort of like the Ouendan!"" he and Yena ended together. Travis grinned. "That makes sense!! Thanks, Yena!"

Yena smiled cutely and barked happily, "Anytime!"

Travis smiled, then couldn't help but ask, "When'd you get so smart on this, Yena?"

Yena shrugged. "Well, I dunno," he said. "I guess I'm just a bit perceptive that way."

Travis smiled and got up. "You're more clever than you look, Yena," he complimented. He banged his fist into his palm as he turned to his other companions. "Well, alright, guys, let's get cracking!" he said. "Follow my lead!"

""Right!!"" Dorian and Frank said, and the three ran to a spot on the lawn.

Travis thought for a moment. "Hmmm...Well, okay, let's try...this," he said, trying to imitate a move the EBA did, the simple mic-to-mouth-while-giving-player-something-with-other-hand gesture they do(mainly on stacked markers in the center of the screen. I think "September" on Sweatin' has an example of this somewhere.). He even tapped his foot in time with the gesture.

The other two tried, but, when trying together, they found out that it was a bit more difficult than it looked; they had to unfold the gesture at a precise rate. They worked for a good ten minutes on it, trying their best, before working it out and being able to do it on command.

Afterwards, the three sat down together in frustrated relief. "Okay," Travis groaned, "this is gonna take a lot longer than I thought..."

"But we're all in this together, now," Dorian sighed.

"Might as well finish what we've started, for once," Frank moaned.

Yena frowned, wishing he could help them somehow as the three got up again and decided to work on more moves.

-

That night, when everyone else was asleep (with only ten or so of the at LEAST 30 or something different moves memorized by the Agent-wannabes--in other words, not very many down and a great many to go), Yena went outside by climbing down from his friend's open, ground floor window onto the ground. With a bit of unease, he began to walk about. "Hello?" he called after getting to the trees. "Is there anyone awake who's willing to try and help with a question?"

"Yes, what is it?" asked a spinarak sliding down from a branch.

Jumping a bit from the bug's appearance, Yena formed his mouth into a brave line and asked, "Well, my friends are having trouble with something involving rhythm and doing something in unison..."

"Oh, you mean all that dancing I saw those three humans doing today?" the spinarak asked, cocking her head. She chuckled. "My, I daresay they DO need help!!"

"Yeah," Yena said. "They need to work fast, because the next full moon is going to be pretty soon..." He looked up and saw the moon's phase. "...A little over half a month," he estimated. He looked back to the pokémon. "Could you tell me if there's anyone who might be able to help?" he asked. "Like, some jigglypuff or something?"

The spinarak shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't," she said. "I don't think much of the pokémon around here are good at that kind of thing. And this place is remarkably free of jigglypuff and other music-loving pokémon...I actually think a...one of those cricket pokémon from Sinnoh, whatever they are, might help the best, since they look more like they could help with this situation. They resemble human guides for large groups of musicians, and I think they do that sort of thing a bit."

Yena sighed, but smiled. "Thank you, ma'am," he said, and the spinarak nodded and slid up into her tree. Yena looked to the sky. "Well...nuts...what'm I gonna do?" he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Yena yipped, jumped a foot, turned 180 degrees in midair, and landed in a retreating pose. Then, he saw it was only Coaty, the family's swellow who had given Travis the message. He sighed in relief. "Please, Coaty," he said, "you know how cowardly I still am..."

Coaty gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry," he said. "But, well, I think I might know something that could possibly help..." Yena was alert and listening. Coaty continued, looking thoughtful. "I like to eavesdrop in on a few phonecalls the family makes, since Mrs. Monkshood, especially, likes to sit in a spot where, from where I normally sit, I can hear what the person on the other end is saying. One day, I discovered an interesting story. It appears that there was a human family, whose female head is friends with Mrs. Monkshood, had, one day last winter, decided to take in a zangoose that their daughter had befriended earlier in the year. It was just going to be for a little while because the weather had been especially bad and the poor guy slept in a very open cave that only kept the rain from his head--not wind and snow. He ended up hibernating--and I don't know why, since I don't think zangoose hibernate--there in their basement for half the season before he was accidentially woken up. He wasn't able to go back into hibernation, so he just stayed with them."

Yena sat and cocked his head. "Yeah, what's this got to do with me?" he muttered, but motioned for Coaty to continue.

The flying-/normal-type nodded. "I'm getting there, don't you worry," he said. "Now, let's see...Ah! Anyway, the zangoose, whom the family's daughter nicknamed Zante, had actually learned to talk during the warmer months in hanging out with them, and basically became part of their family. Then, a couple weeks after he woke from hibernation, Zante and the daughter and her brother were out having a snowball fight when Zante's instincts went off, if you know what I mean. So, Zante raced off to find his target, but when he found it, he was so shocked at the condition they were in, he skidded to a halt in the snow. He couldn't bring himself to attack a seviper that was obviously in a lot of pain. The daughter came over to investigate and, with her caring heart, decided the seviper needed to come inside. Much to Zante's dismay, the family decided to keep the seviper for a while, too, at least until it was warm enough for it to leave, since reptiles don't do well out in the cold.

"Zante also had to put up with the fact that he and Vesp, as the female seviper preferred to be called, had to sleep in the same room, the basement, since the boiler was there and Vesp needed heat. Zante had to put up with her, being instructed that if he laid a single claw on Vesp, he wouldn't get food for a week--which was understandable in its harshness, since he'd become pretty fat from his hibernation diet's aftereffects and the generous amount of human food the daughter gave him. At first, he and she occasionally passed insults between each other, but, one day, they each discovered some sensitive spots that they both had in common. You would not BELIEVE what happened after that," Coaty chuckled.

Yena cocked his head, then widened his eyes and looked straight. "No way..."

Coaty was smiling with laughter in his chest as he nodded. "It absolutely escapes me how it happened, too, but the two, making good on a lot of bets and half-hearted promises humans--and us pokémon!--have made, FELL IN LOVE!! Can you believe that? Natural enemies in love!" He laughed and shook his head at Yena's dropped jaw. "But that's not the half of it," he continued. "They do stuff like hugging and all that mushy crud! She even likes how she can wrap around him and stuff--says he's warm. But, anyway, back to the point, it also turns out that Zante's got a good amount of rhythm in his body, and can dance and even sing pretty well. He's also got a knack for helping people out. He actually got to know the family after saving their daughter from being sick once, and then, again, at an outdoor hot springs where he actually saved the brother from drowning. His heart is very warm and soft--just like him, according to Vesp, whom Zante taught to speak Human--which is probably, in my opinion, why he was able to fall in love with a seviper. When he left the house with Vesp, one day, when spring arrived, he said he was going to be travelling the land with his new girlfriend as he went off to be something he called a 'Pokémon Linguist'--a pokémon that knows Human who teaches other pokémon how to speak it. He's got a knack for teaching, in general, too. But I'm mainly talking about the dancing and singing part," he said, smiling. "You know, I could probably find him...it's not easy to miss a big, fat zangoose with a seviper wrapped around him while they walked in perfect harmony--perhaps even with hearts floating up from them--and...well, I was thinking..." Coaty blushed a bit.

Yena raised an eyebrow, then ventured to guess, "...Hope I don't sound presumptuous, but...Thinking that you could fly around and try to find him?"

Coaty smiled and nodded. "Yeah!" he said. "But I can't see well in the dark," he added. "If I'm gonna do this, it'll be at night, since I don't want the family worrying about my absence. Therefore, you'll have to tag along on my back or, if you're feeling brave, my talons--which would probably be better--and be my eyes. We could meet him and you could explain your plight, and maybe he'll decide to help you!" He extended a wing to point at the wolf pokémon.

Yena gasped, then nodded, grinning and wagging his tail. "I'd LOVE to!" he said. "Please, let's do it!...You can even take me in your talons, if you promise not to let go..."

Coaty smirked. "I've got the best grip a swellow has around!" he boasted, then fluttered over and, gently, grabbed Yena. "Here we go!" With a great downbeat of wings, the two were off.

Yena yipped while he was grabbed. "W-Wait! Warn me next time!" he cried as he flailed his four legs in the air, lifting up. He gulped as he watched the ground fall away from him. "Ulp...That's a...long way down..."

"Well," Coaty muttered, flapping up to a good height, "I AM a trained battler. I've got the skills to catch falling pokémon, as well as the speed; I've practically got Aerial Ace down to a science!"

Yena rolled his eyes at this. Coaty liked to boast about his talents, as the wild pokémon discovered. He then grunted and clenched his paws into little fists. "Alright!" he said to himself. "Now to see if that guy's around here somewhere!"

Coaty stopped ascending and started to fly around the house in a circle. "Well, then, I'm thinkin' we should spiral out from around the house, since I don't know where he's coming from," he stated.

"Sounds like a plan!" Yena said, watching the world zoom below him while trying not to shake in fear.

The two did so for a while, soon at an about 80' radius from their home. This took 25 minutes, and Coaty, after being asked quite frequently at first, was not very tired, not in the least, despite being a daytime pokémon. Yena soon became used to the experience, searching carefully, his desire to help out his friend overpowering his fear. 'White...White...' he repeated sometimes in his head. 'It won't be hard to see white in a sea of trees...'

After being aloft an hour, they were around 175' from home. Coaty couldn't surpress his yawn. "Maybe we should call it a night, Yena," he suggested reluctantly. "I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't here to begin with...It was worth a shot, though..."

Yena shook his head. "Just a little longer," he said. Coaty was about to argue that he was starting to get tired when a gentle gust of wind blew up from the trees to the north. Yena sniffed a little, then gasped. He sniffed harder, then nodded. "Hang on." He sniffed a bit more. "I've just caught the scents of a scaly pokémon and a thickly-furred one, one of them carrying a bag or something, I guess, since I smell some fruit not found around here, too," he described. "To the north, from that wind."

Coaty nodded. "I'll circle around to there," he said.

Yena kept sniffing as they cycled north. The closer they got, the stronger it became to Yena's powerful nose. At some point, as they began to turn towards the northern side of the house, it began to fade. Yena nodded. "Right!" he said. "I mean, left!" (They were going in a clockwise direction around the house.) "It's starting to fade!"

Coaty nodded and pivoted. "Hope this is them," he muttered.

The scent did, indeed, become stronger. Yena nodded. "Right way," he said. After getting in the spot he gauged where the scent was strongest, he said to turn directly north of there. When they did, he found the scent was strengthening. "We're heading there!" he reported.

"Good!" Coaty replied. "This'd better be them, though...ugh..." He was, in fact, more tired than he had let on.

Yena was too busy to notice the slight fatigue that his ride was feeling. "Closer...closer..." he muttered, scanning the trees below. "Try and fly a little slower, please..." After slowing down, he could look better. After a few moments, he caught a glimpse of a light patch in the trees under the moonlight. "Yen?" he gasped shortly. He looked harder as he went to it. "White, definitely..." His heart was beating hard. 'No way! Already? This is too good to be true!'

Coaty was panting, now. "Ugh...Uh, Yena...Can we land...please..." he muttered. "Now...my grip...uh..."

His talons were starting to slacken.

Yena was too intent on staring down. As he got closer, he leaned down a little bit as his target came in view more. "I can almost...see the full shape...a little lower, please, Coaty..." He waited, then glanced up at Coaty. "Coaty?"

Coaty was panting hard. "We...need...to...uhhhng..." he wheezed. "My...talons...can't..." Yena realized the grip on him was loosening, to his shock.

Before the bird pokémon could finish, his talons loosened more. With a yip, Yena fell, his fur having caused him to slide out a bit faster than normal, seeing as he groomed himself well. A bit too well, apparantly. "YENAAAAAAH!!" he cried, falling down with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Coaty gasped and looked down at his friend. "YENA!!" he hoarsely gasped, then, with a groan, tried to fly down to catch him. 'So tired...I can't make it...!'

Yena's life was about to flash before his eyes. 'No...I can't...die...!!' he thought, flailing and spinning in the air as he fell. He saw flashes of leaves approaching him faster. 'Wait, the trees will break my fall...if I don't break my back!!' He was in a state of panic. "NOOOOOOOO!!"

Coaty was still too slow! 'Too tired!! Dangit!!' he thought, panic seeping into him. He tried to strain to go faster, but soon saw he was too late. "No!! Yenaaa!!" he cried, watching the wolf hit the leaves.

Yena felt the leaves on him. 'This is it...' He braced himself as he hurtled down...down...'No branches!! Crap!!'...down...'I'm...I'm gonna DIE!!'

And he landed. Coaty heard a dull thump and cried, "NOOOO!" Fatigue magically fading, he dived down into the trees and looked around where he saw Yena go. "Yena!" he called, stopping on the forest floor. He looked around. "Hmm...no wolf guts...uhm..." he muttered, and began walking forwards in the same trajectory. "I didn't hear a crack of a branch," he muttered, "I heard a thump...Where..." He stepped out into a clearing and gasped.

-

'I'm...I'm gonna DIE!!'

Yena soared down through the branches, eyes shut in fear, and thought it'd all end when, to his surprise and shock, he landed. However, instead of hard ground and intense pain, he felt himself sink into something...then bounce up again before landing on top of something warm, soft, and furry. He also heard a sound like an oversized squeaky toy being pressed so hard that the squeaker did the equivalant of a speaker blowing out. He blinked and opened his eyes as he saw a small sea of white around him. "...Yen?" he whispered. He then felt the sea move and yipped before hearing a groan behind him. He stood on his legs a little weakly and turned around.

"Uuuuhnn!! Oww!!"

Yena dropped his jaw and widened his eyes as he saw a white, long-eared head shake and slowly open a yellow eye, gritting its sharp teeth. Yena noticed, as well, a red mark on its left side. "A zangoose...?"

"Man...What the...?" the zangoose blearilly shook its head and wiped its eyes with its paws, claws unsheathed on reflex. Yena noticed it wore a pecha scarf around its neck(which was futile, since zangoose have Immunity, making the scarf's poison status-gaurding property null). It looked at Yena and growled. "A stupid poochyena playin' Livin' Trampoline, huh?" His voice was gruff and angry.

Yena blinked and looked around him. His jaw dropped more and he sweatdropped as he saw that he was on what must have been the fattest zangoose in the world. "Oh my--!!" he yipped. He then heard a gasp and looked to his left, raising his eyebrows after returning every other face part to normal. "Coaty!" he cried, and made to hop off the white-furred large boulder-sized belly.

The zangoose growled and grabbed him mid-jump. "I don't think so, bub," it growled, turning Yena to its face. "You look at me and tell me why you decided to go and jump down on an innocent, sleeping zangoose, or I'm gonna make you into a snake chew toy." With that threat, it turned Yena to its left, where a large seviper was waiting, and not looking that amused.

Yena and Coaty gasped at once. ""NO WAY!!"" they cried. Yena looked at the zangoose. "Are you possibly the zangoose who goes by the name Zante?" he asked fervently.

The cat-ferret and the seviper both started, totally surprised. "Er...yeah..." Then Zante growled again. "What, come to try and make fun of us?" he asked.

Yena yipped and flailed around a little. "NonononoNO!!" he stuttered, stopping in a "no way" two-paw gesture. "Honestly!! In fact, we came here t--"

"To land on my poor stomach?!" Zante asked, aggrivated.

Yena gulped. This wasn't going well. "Er..." He sighed. "Look, I hope you believe me, but...Coaty there," he said, pointing a paw at the swellow, "was holding me in his talons as I searched the trees below...for you guys."

"Then," Coaty picked up, "since I was getting a bit tired and he wasn't listening to me..." He gave the wolf a stern look that caused him to give an embaressed chuckle. "...poor Yena there slipped from my grip and fell. I thought the poor fella was going to go splat, but I take it that you ended up saving his life!" He laughed uneasilly.

Zante blinked, raising his eyebrows. "Really?" he asked. He put a paw over his middle. "Well...that WOULD explain why it felt like I was hit by a geodude going a gazillion miles an hour in a Rollout...Naw, more like a cannonball..." He looked at Yena, looking stern. "You lying to get yourself out of a tight spot?" he asked, double-checking. Yena shook his head. Zante then looked at the seviper. "Vesp?"

Vesp examined the two pokémon after slithering very close to Zante. Without a doubt, these two were either good friends or more. She nodded after a little. "Yeah," she said. Her voice was hissy, but definitely feminine and with a slight gentleness to it. "I think they're telling the truth."

Zante raised his eyebrow, looked at the two, then sighed. "Well, alright," he gave in, setting Yena down on his stomach again. "But you still should've been listening to your ride, y'know." He crossed his arms, claws sheathed again. "I think an apology is still in order, at least."

Yena looked to the three others around, then sighed and nodded, looking down. "I'm sorry for not listening, Coaty, and for, therefore, landing so hard on you, Mr. Zante."

Zante's hard, traditional zangoose expression of "go away or something" magically changed to a soft, kind one that was full of friendliness. "Thank you, Yena!" he said, voice also changed. It was still gruff, like a zangoose's should be, but it was much kinder and gentler. "And sorry for doing that...I WAS just asleep, you know."

"And I TRIED to wake you up," Vesp added in an I-told-you-so sort of voice, "but you're too fat and lazy, Mr. I-Need-to-Hibernate-Every-Winter-When-I-Really-Don't." She looked unamused at him. "Y'could've at least tried to catch him first, then."

Zante chuckled. "Oh, come on, Vesp! You know I'm a heavy sleeper!"

"In more ways than one," muttered Coaty, who instantly squaked and clamped his beak shut with his wing when Zante looked at him. "I mean--!"

Zante just laughed, however. "Hey, I was aiming for that!" he said. "It's a joke!" He smiled and stretched. "Haaah...Sorry. Well, you guys know me, and now I know you...Yena and Coaty, right?" he asked, pointing at each in turn. They nodded. He smiled. "Alright, then, now...you were searching for us, you said?" He cocked his head, looking curious. "What for?"

Yena grinned, wagging his tail. "Well, sir," he said, "it may sound a little far-fetched--"

"""WHERE?!""" cried all three of the others, laughing silently.

Yena face-pawed. "Walked right into that one..." He chuckled and looked up again. "Anyway," he continued, "it may sound a bit far-fetched, but, see, I have these three human friends..."

"...Hmmm...Well, this is definitely something different," Zante said, looking up at the moon. The stars twinkled down at him as a hoothoot hooted in the distance.


	19. Let Loose

(19)( ) (Just) (Let) (Loose)

Travis yawned and stretched the next morning. He looked to the side of his bed and found Yena snoozing away. "I'd better not wake him," muttered the human as he got off his mattress with practiced ease.

Yena's ears pricked up anyway when he heard the creak of wood as his friend stepped out of bed. Somewhat groggilly, he looked up and saw him. "Good morning, Travis," he yawned cutely.

Travis smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for waking you up," he apologized, opening a drawer for a shirt. "I didn't mean to. You looked so peaceful asleep."

Yena smiled and got up, stretching. "That's alright," he said, "I wanted to be awake by the time you guys went out to practice...that is, if you are today..."

Travis nodded after pulling his shirt down over him. "Yeah," he said, reaching for his pants drawer. "At least, I HOPE we are..."

'I hope so, too,' Yena agreed, not liking the prospect of a possible no show.

After Travis was finished getting dressed, he went downstairs and joined his family and two friends for breakfast. Afterwards, he got the two alone. "You guys up for some practice?" he asked, hopeful look on his face.

Frank and Dorian looked with unsure glances at each other. ""Eeerrrrr..."" They were obviously not looking forward to a full day of failure.

"Travis!" called Mrs. Monkshood from the front of the house.

Travis called over his shoulder, "What?"

"We're leaving for your brother's physical, now! Hold down the fort, alright?"

"Okay! Have fun!"

"Yeah, thanks..."

He heard the door shut and waited for them to walk off before facing his friends again. "I know that yesterday was pretty grim," he said, "but we should at least try. Please..."

Frank and Dorian sighed and caved. The three, plus Yena(who was trotting after, yipping, "Wait for me! Wait for me!" after waking up from an accidental nap upstairs), went to the front yard.

Travis crossed his arms, looking behind him as he left the house with his shoes on. To himself, he muttered, "That's funny...Coaty's usually in the house in the morning for a bit before going outside to enjoy the morning air..." He looked up. "And there's not a trace of him in the sky...Where has that swellow gone?"

"Trav? What's up?" chuckled Frank.

"Nothing." Travis shook his head and looked forwards again. He stopped in their spot from yesterday and turned to them. "Well, guys," he breathed, as if he was about to start on an onerous house-cleaning job, "let's get started..."

They started by trying to remember the moves from yesterday. They had a little trouble, though; maybe it was the moving-around-in-the-morning thing. Yena was relieved, though. 'Perfect...just keep floundering...' He looked to the north. '...and hurry your tailfeathers up, Coaty...'

It was a few more minutes before the humans stopped, trying to rest a little from the moving and the frustration. "Ugh...This is impossible," Frank whined. "I don't wanna give up, but still..."

Dorian sighed, removing his glasses and wiping them on his shirt. "Well, we're just...I dunno..."

"We're not..." Travis tried, but he couldn't put his finger on it, either.

Yena gulped. 'C'mon, don't say you're giving up,' he hoped. He looked over his shoulder suddenly, though, after catching a sniff of something. 'Oh, frikkin' finally!!' He smiled and wagged his tail, getting up.

Travis raised his eyebrows as he watched Yena trot off north. "Yena?" he asked. "What're you doing?" Yena didn't reply, which worried Travis. "What's that little cub up to?" he muttered.

The other two sighed again and sat there. "I hate to say it," said Frank after a while, "but maybe we're NOT cut out to be Agents..."

"Yeah," Dorian agreed. "I mean, sure, we're fine, but...I just can't feel...SOMEthing..."

Travis frowned. "Please," he said, "we have to do this."

"But we're getting NOWHERE!" Frank complained, slamming a hand on the grass. "What's the use of trying if we don't get anywhere?"

"We DO get somewhere," Dorian defended. He then looked away. "Just...very slowly..."

Travis sighed, bowing his head. "What we need is...We need more, uhm...togetherness?" he suggested, looking up with a helpless look on his face.

"Naw, you just need to pull yourselves together an' just DO it!"

The three turned to face north towards the gruff voice. To their surprise, Yena marched proudly along, Coaty flying alongside him, while they led one of the strangest sights ever to anyone living in the Pokémon universe: A fairly tall and more-than-fairly obese zangoose with a seviper wrapped around his whole body, with neither one trying to kill each other. In fact, they were both smiling happilly. The zangoose stopped and let down a drawstring backpack he'd been carrying and stood with a paw on his hip as he slouched, waved, and said, "Howdy."

This whole scene took a moment to register, but even so, the first thing that Travis said was, "Yena? Explain."

Yena grinned. "I think Zante's better for this, since you all should know what's going on," he said, smiling as Coaty landed next to him.

"Zante?" repeated Travis, raising an eyebrow and looking up at the standing pokémon. He raised his eyebrows. "Waitaminit!" he cried, blinking. "Mom told me about you! You're from that family--spacing on their name--that let you in for last winter! That one who's just totally defied nature by fall--"

Zante and Vesp sweatdropped and instantly put a claw or tail, respectively, up to their lips and shushed him. "Please, don't say that out loud," Zante asked. "It's a little embarassing, no matter how true it is..." He chuckled as he hugged his girlfriend to him, sinking her into his gut. ('Yeesh, how much DID he eat for hibernation?!' Yena wondered, a little perturbed at his new ally.) "I'll still love Vesp here, though, no matter what!"

Vesp chose to remain silent on that, choosing instead to say, "Sweetie, you're making a scene."

This is when it finally registered to the three humans that, yes, there were two pokémon there who were speaking perfect Human. They gawked and pointed. """YOU'RE SPEAKING HUMAN!!""" they cried in unison.

Zante and Vesp laughed. "You're just NOW noticing??" Zante asked, crossing his arms and cocking his head to the side, a playful expression on his face. "Wow, you guys might just need more help than I thought!" He let out a great belly laugh.

Travis raised his eyebrows. "More..." He then narrowed them as he looked at Yena. "Yenaaa?"

Yena grinned, wagging his tail. "Trust me," he said. "Me and Coaty tracked him down, amazingly only last night, and asked him to help. He said, 'Yeah, sure, what the heck,' and said he'd come when Coaty came to get him." He grinned wider. "You guys need help, admit it!"

Travis chuckled uneasilly. "Yeah, but..." He looked over to Zante, who was talking with an amazed pair of wannabe-backups. He looked back to Yena. "From a pokémon? No offence, really, but...can he really help us?" He sweatdropped as he eyed the cat-ferret's enormity. "He's gotta be, what, 300 pounds?" he whispered.

"...really all that hard, and it's actually 432 pounds," Zante suddenly added in a slightly louder voice, turning to Travis, who had frozen in embaressment. Zante beat a fist to his stomach, making his body ripple a slight amount. "And, dammit, I'm proud of it. You have no IDEA how satisfying it is to see other zangoose back veeeeery sloooowly when they see that, yes, I can move as fast as they can and, yes, I know Body Slam."

Travis turned slowly, blushing. "Errr, uh...Sorry..." When he heard the part about the running, though, he couldn't help but ask, "You can run fast?"

"Yeah, that's okay," Zante said, "and yeah, I can run fast. It's not exactly the easiest thing in the world, but I can run as fast as when I was skinny, trust me." He began pulling on Vesp and chuckling. "'Kay, sweetie, gotta get off, now."

"Awww! But you're the only full-body pillow I can find!!" Vesp joked, sqeezing harder.

Zante grunted a little at this, sweatdropping. "Look who's making a scene now," he muttered.

Vesp squeaked at this, slackening her body. She fell with a fwumph to the ground in a coil before slithering off to...er, stand, I guess, to the side, blushing.

Zante chuckled, crossing his arms after patting his now-free body. "You really gotta get past that whole shrink-away-when-you-realize-you're-being-a-hypocryte thing," he admonished. He then cleared his throat. "AHEM. Now..."

And with that, he got down on all fours, belly BARELY above the ground, and, to everyone's surprise, began moving around at top speed. He did a lap around the house before skidding back to where he began, at which point he stood. He didn't even pant. "Whoo! Shoot, I'm losing weight," he said, "I couldn't touch the ground anymore!" He laughed at the expressions around him. "I'm kidding!! ...Well, mostly..." He sweatdropped and got off the subject. "Enough talking about my girth! Now to talk about the fact you guys are apparantly suck--I mean, having trouble, huh?"

Travis nodded. "Well, okay, the deal is we're--"

"Trying to learn to sing and dance in unison so that you can find a way to save your parents, right?" interrupted Vesp, who currently was giving Yena a ride on her head. She chuckled. "Yeah, your little friend here told us after dive-bombing my boyfriend."

Yena frowned. "I SAID it was an ACCIDENT!!" he whined as the snake laughed.

"Dive-bombing?" repeated Frank, who let out a laugh as well. "Oh, I would have LOVED to have seen THAT!!"

Zante chuckled a little. "Yeah, but I sure don't want to again," he stated. "My stomach's STILL sore...I swear, if I wasn't so overweight, I'd've needed a Center, stat!" He laughed and got to a position where all three had to look at him while the other pokémon watched from the sidelines. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Well, okay, from what I understand, you've got some trouble getting moves down, am I right?" he began.

Dorian nodded. "Yeah, we're having trouble getting them in sync, for one," he said.

"We're just not doing them right entirely," Frank pouted.

Zante raised an eyebrow, then came and examined them. After a half minute of looking and occasional sniffing, he went back in place and nodded. "Well, I think I can see the reason," he said, smiling. He smirked and closed the eye his mouth smirked up to. "Yer all tight as knots!"

Travis cocked his head. "We're...tense?" He looked at himself. "We just woke up! How can we be tense?"

Zante closed his eyes and waggled a claw. "You're thinking too hard and not letting your body do it," he explained. "You have an idea of what to do, and you're just not letting yourself try it. Sure, it takes practice, but you're MAKING yourself do it when you're really not ready for it. From what I hear's your plight, you gotta calm down and not feel like you need to rush things, uhm...Travis, right?" He opened an eye while wearing a questioning look.

Travis nodded. "Yeah..." He looked down. "I guess I AM feeling a bit tense..."

"Well, you DO look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders," Dorian noticed, putting a hand on his waist. "That's gonna contribute SOMEthing."

"And you guys," Zante added, pointing at them, "are still skeptical that this is gonna work and you're reluctant to look like idiots. But, well, I suppose that's a paradox, 'cuz you look like you're idiots on a regular basis!" He laughed at his joke.

""HEY!!"" they both said back while everyone laughed. ""We're not idiots!""

Dorian pointed at his friend. "HE'S the idiot! I'M the smart one!"

Frank nearly face-fell. "I'M the idiot? Hey, I'm not the one who fell for the dare to look at the sun for a while back in third grade, four-eyes!"

Dorian adjusted his glasses. "Yeah, but now I look smarter than you, which is true anyway," he said back.

"Enough, enough," Travis said, chuckling. "Let's just settle it and stop being silly." He paused while the other two nodded, then turned around. "I mean, we ALL know Frank's the unadulterated moron maximus, so there's no point arguing," he added, and everyone laughed as Frank went and started play-clobbering his friend.

Zante chuckled and nodded. "That's just what we need to do," he said. "You guys need to just loosen up! Keep focused, but basically look at the goal and just ignore it otherwise while you relax a second." He shook himself and took a deep breath. "Well?"

Travis and the other two looked at each other, then shrugged and got in position. "Well...okay," said the leader, and they took deep breaths. "...There."

"NUH--uh-uh!" Zante stopped him, waggling a claw again with his other paw on his bulky hip. "That's not quite it. You've gotta loosen up...warm up a bit and relax! Think of some feel-good music so YOU feel good before making OTHERS feel good!"

Frank's eyebrows met. "But we don't have a boom box or any music like that around," he complained.

Zante smirked. "Note I said 'think,' not hear," he pointed out. "Just try and calm down, then think of something...something..." He thought a moment. "Well, something that makes you feel--"

"Funky," Travis suggested. His teammates looked at him. Travis shrugged. "Hey, a funky tune gets me feeling like I'm in the groove."

"And you can't make it come," added Zante, tail wagging as he gave a wiley smile. "Ya gotta LET it come. Ya gotta feel it and let loose!" He started tapping a foot. "Ha! There, I just got somethin' playing in my head!" he said. He raised an arm, bobbing it to the beat almost like a conductor.

Travis slanted his mouth uncertainly. "But...nothing's been COMING..." he muttered.

"Then you're still not relaxed!!" chuckled Zante, who was really starting to get into it a little. His body was bouncing a little bit, like one of those bouncing white balls on lyrics in old music videos. "Ya just gotta feel it! C'mon, loosen up!! Calm down!!" he said. "Breathe in and chill out!"

"Loosen up...calm down..." repeated Travis thoughtfully, then he closed his eyes and looked down. "Breathe in..." he breathed in. "...chill out."

"Yeah," Zante said, "just like that!" He smiled and looked to the other two. "He's startin' to get it! C'mon, you two! Loosen up, calm down!"

"Breathe in," Dorian said, doing so, closing his eyes as well.

"And chill out, huh? Okay..." Frank did the same.

Zante nodded. "Yeah, that's it..."

"Loosen up...calm down..." Travis muttered. "Breathe in, chill out..." He repeated this again, softer, and then didn't say anything. 'Loosen up...calm down...breathe in...chill out...'

(In the back of his unconciousness, taking it in, Jet couldn't help but smile. 'Thaaaat's the ticket,' he thought.)

'Loosen up...calm down...breathe in...chill out...' thought Dorian.

'Loosen up, calm down...breathe in, chill out...' thought Frank.

For some reason, the words seemed to form a sort of chant that let them meditate, sort of, for a moment. In fact, when they heard Zante's next instructions, they almost seemed to hear him from underwater.

"Okay, now...just relax and put a single tiny thought into what it is you've got to do, now...think about somethin' good! Think of the rhythm!"

Yet, somehow...

'Loosen up...calm down...Breathe in...chill out,' thought Travis with a smidgen of rhythm.

'Loosen up, calm down...Breathe in, chill out,' Frank thought, going a bit more staccato.

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out...' Dorian thought, a little more staccato than Frank.

'Loosen up, calm down...' Travis.

'...Breathe in,' Frank.

'chill out...' Dorian.

Outside, Zante could see that they were getting somewhere. "You're doin' it! Just keep at it! C'mon..."

It took a little more time, and the three began thinking almost at the same tempo each round. The rhythm was being established among the three of them at the same time, slowly.

'Loosen up, calm down...Breathe in, chill out.' Travis.

'Loosen up, calm down...Breathe in, chill out.' Frank.

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out.' Dorian.

"C'mon..."

'Loosen up, calm down...Breathe in, chill out.' Travis.

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out.' Frank.

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out.' Dorian.

"C'mon!..."

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out.' Travis.

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out.' Frank.

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out.' Dorian.

"Yes! C'mon!!"

'Loosen up, calm down. Breathe in, chill out.' Travis, Frank and Dorian nanoseconds behind.

''Loosen up, Calm down. Breathe in, chill out.'' Now only Frank was behind.

'''Loosen up, Calm down. Breathe in, Chill out.'''

Zante was grinning. "It's working," he whispered. "They're starting to really feel it! I can't believe it! I was right! At least...SO far..." He grinned and said louder, "C'MON!!"

'Loosen up! Calm down!' they thought as one. 'Breathe in! Chill out!'

"YEAH!" They started to hear...something else. Like the beat of their inner chanting finally coming out as it got so loud in their heads, it was a surprise they weren't starting to use telepathy.

'Loosen up! Calm down! Breathe in! Chill out!'

"C'mon, FEEL it!" A bit more now...More sound...Was it all in their heads? As it got more intense, they started unwittingly shaking their fists to the beat.

'Loosen up! Calm down! Breathe in! Chill out!'

"Bit more, COME on!" They began tapping their feet as they could almost hear the echoing words in their head with their ears and something...else...as finally, as one, they opened their eyes and thought in rhythm and time, almost aloud!

Zante suddenly got this wild face.

(-)Loosen up!

His eyes went HUGE, his grin showed long, ragged teeth, and his movements, now almost akin to a drum major's conducting, more energetic.

(-)Calm down!

He knew that what he was feeling now was what the other three were feeling as well.

(-)Breathe in!

The whole world around almost felt as if it felt it, too; as if it were taking a breath and darkening, almost ready to explode.

(-)Chill out!

And finally, with a rabid voice that seemed to rock the body, mind, heart, and soul, as well as the eardrums, Zante roared,

**"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!!"**

as in came the slap bass.

Travis, Frank, and Dorian were a little surprised at the feeling this all created, but they were into the groove enough to let it wash right off. They were also in it enough to let themselves start the sway.

(Out in the EBA world, everyone at EBA Central was wide-eyed and feeling a sense of excitement and dread at the same time...

"They're...They're..." Kahn muttered, hardly believing what he was seeing.)

They were making the pulsating star that always appeared whenever the EBA was swaying. Nobody was their target, but, were this the game, Zante would likely be in the top screen.

"YEAH!" Zante cried while the swaying began, along with a huge techno-style deep bass drum and drumset hitting the precussion line and a few more funky-sounding electronica instruments balancing the groovy slap bass with, of all things, a chord progression in basic, traditional style four-part harmony. (For all you smartasses out there, this means everything up to the point you learn about secondary sevenths, which the slap bass is actually helping provide. These are those jazzy chords, kiddies--jazz relies on sevenths, or dominants, for its decidedly not-classic sound, and they're used a lot in modern-day popular music.) The soprano line was missing, and the slap bass didn't really provide it, it seemed. It appeared to be, after a trained listener would hear it, something in the key of D major...until it began to modulate into f# minor. Thankfully, though it went to the naturally more-sad sound of a minor key, it kept its funky elements in the slap bass. All throughout played a few samples, like, "YEAH!" "UH!" "C'MON!" and such.

While the music began to unfold and the three swayed along, Zante, almost brimming with a beastly--yet controlled--energy, continued. "ALRIGHT!! You guys've DONE it!" he said. "Never heard THIS song...must be from the heart! But let's not focus on the details, now...Go ahead and just let the music tell you what to do! Don't worry if it's simple for now, just let it move you!" It appeared that, while he was obviously now a pokémon possessed, he was in perfect control.

Yena noticed this, and was a little scared by it. "Is he really alright?" he asked Vesp.

Vesp nodded. "Yeah, he's okay," she said. "But, wow, I've never seen him look so...so WILD...He loves music, but this is almost like it's...it's sort of taken his soul and is sharing it with him..."

Yena gazed in wonder at the spectacle after this observation. "Woooow..." 'This looks pretty cool...'

Travis and the others just kept swaying, letting it go while listening a bit to Zante.

Zante grinned. "Okay, then, folks, there's the modulation, - so let's see where this'll go!" he said, still drum major dancing. "Alrighty, then? Now, are you ready?" He was instructing in time--136 BPM, to be exact--and rhythem (each dash meaning a new measure, and a new measure between the phrases as well (4/4 or common time, with four beats a measure and each quarter note gets the beat (thus, four quarters equals a whole, get it?))) and was getting them set, and, at the final measure before the phrase, counted them off. "...3! 2! 1! Let's GO!!"

And so, without knowing how they were doing it, they began to dance and sing.

-Look at you!

-You're not alright

-Workin' all day

-Worryin' all night

-Look at you!

-You're quite a sight

-How'd'you expect, so tired

-To do things right?

They were, to Kahn's, the Agents in the real world's, and their own amazement, in perfect sync. They only did what they felt that they should try and do--simple things. They did what they knew, which were about eight different moves, in time with the chord changes, which occured on every first and third beat--half notes. This was wise, since the melody was difficult, and would be hell to try and dance to right off. The moves they did, though easy and few, they did in perfect unison and in almost perfect timing. They accomplished them great, and they could feel the energy they were making, the energy they were feeling.

When the break rolled around, Zante was overjoyed. "You guys are actually DOING it!!" he said, grinning wildly. "I feel...I feel GREAT! You're together on pitch, you're moving with the music--the chords, I think," he muttered as his face fleetingly looked normal in a perfect "I think" look of looking up into unmoved eyebrows and a straight mouth. It went back to freakishly wild, though still sort of controlled. "Alright! Keep that singing and start moving again when you feel it's time!"

Travis and his friends just kept going. And, yes, they were starting to smile, too, from their faces of utter calm. A little, tiny smile, but they tried to remain calm, as well, so as not to risk breaking the beat. It was getting a little hard to fight, though; for a totally new song, it wasn't half bad in its high-energy presentation.

--**(O)**--

(-)Loosen up!

(-)Calm down!

(-)Breathe in!

(-)Chill out!

(-)(two beats of notes but not sung melody)

"Good!"

(-)Life's way

(-)Too short

(-)To be

(-)Without

(-)A break!

On that last note, a fermata, they held it for a little longer than normal, and Zante stopped and moved slowly along the normal path his arms had been taking, just like a real conductor doing a real fermata. Was he the conductor? Or was that just how he danced? Then, finally, after what were, incedentially, about three normal beats, they continued as the modulation to D major came in.

"Okay, guys, it's time,"

-So LET LOOSE!!

-It's time to party

-So release all of your tension away!

-LET LOOSE!!

-C'mon, let's dance,

-And forget the stress of today!

-Just jive!

-For now, let's be happy

-That we're still alive!

-Let loose!

-Break free!

-Just dance!

-Get happy!

The song ended on a nice V-I chord progression, a solid and finalizing progression that is the basis for almost all chord progressions, even in minor keys. Zante couldn't help but sing with for the first two "LET LOOSE!!"'s, and the way he did it really fit the song's nature of including samplings of sounds and words, sort of like a Fatboy Slim song or something like that. The chorus (actually, did you know that the chorus' real, technical name is supposed to be refrain? I think people just got laz-shot for too many interruptions) moved a lot differently chordwise, with many chords going with the melody and including many non-chord tones (notes that don't fit the chord that they're played during; ie, an E while a D-F-A(-C) chord is played.). The melody was more active, as well, keeping with a down-up wave-like shape. (The verse used ramplike shaping and then waving during the break part.) As for performance, they did more rhythms than keeping with the chords, and their moves were, again, basically spot-on. They were getting into it, now, and they sang it pretty well, too.

Then, an instrumental came in, and Zante grinned. "Wonderful job, guys!!" he said. "PERFECT! Now we're cookin', eh? Keep up the good work, and you'll get this thing down for SURE!"

The three wannabe Agents couldn't help but smile just a little.

--**(O)**--

--

(-)(Extended instrumental)

Zante flopped his head to a side, an idea on his face. "Hey, I've got it," he said. "You guys feelin' a break? Or maybe...some new moves?" he asked. The three nodded. "Alrighty, then!! Travis, you take the lead, then everyone do what he does! We'll do this 'till we're all done with the set we're feeling comin' and then we're a-goin' on!"

Travis nodded. "Right, then, guys, let's get this right!" he said, and began doing the moves that just...came to him. The ones he did at first were normal Agent fare, and they did them pretty well. Then, he felt a little more...interesting things coming. When the next move came up, instead of doing what the Agents normally do, he added a little more...flair. A bit of funky soul was put into the move. Instead of doing the move where the Agents' hands trace a back-and-forth arc on the bottom, like a wide U, as normal, with smoothness, he did it with a little more bounce, grooving along. His friends felt the same wavelength and did the same. Then, instead of the (relatively weak) arm movements to the side that are seen during Jumpin' Jack Flash (when doing the guitar parts) with smooth circles, he did them with a twist out in one direction, then twisted back in the other and then opening his arm down, sort of pointing with his finger while he did. Dorian and Frank copied him move for move.

They continued this for a while more. All the time, the three other pokémon watched as the humans pulled off their stylish moves, as if trying to say, "Look we're cool, so you be, too!" or something, as Yena put it. "Man...they're really awesome," he said, "but I think I'm liking this feeling I'm getting a bit more than their dancing, personally."

"But, D'AING, though," Coaty cawed in awe, "ya gotta admit, it looks like they're gonna pull this off, after all!"

Vesp smiled. "I see now," she muttered. "He's just...he's sort of letting himself just get into it." 'At least...I hope...' She could have sworn she'd seen his fur flutter a little bit...on its own...Maybe it was just the wind after all...

"ALRIGHTY!!" said Zante after a while of learning new moves. "Now, all together now on this next part! Back to the sound!" The song modulated back into f# minor and the verse began again.

--

(-)Look at you!

(-)I'll die of fright

(-)You're a ghost from lettin' life

(-)Be and impossible fight

(-)Look at you!

(-)I know your plight

(-)So I'm here to help you

(-)See the light

Travis, Frank, and Dorian all swayed along, smiling more now as they got into it more and more.

-Loosen up!

-Calm down!

-Breathe in!

-Chill out!

-Life's way

-Too short

-To be

-Without

-A break!

-So LET LOOSE!!

-It's time to party

-So release all of your tension away!

-LET LOOSE!!

-C'mon, let's dance,

-And forget the stress of today!

-Just jive!

-For now, let's be happy

-That we're still alive!

-Let loose!

-Break free!

-Just dance!

-Get happy!

They unleashed a totally new move on the fermata'd "break!", one that we're familiar with since it generally is the cause of that ring-shaped wear on our touch screens if we aren't using screen protectors(and maybe even if!): The spinner. (NOTE: This is just my theory. I don't have a single clue what they do during spinners, really, but I'm guessing.) When this came, they started into a move, sort of rolling their fists along as they slowly went through, then, when the spinner snapped to a close, they snapped their arms and legs to the end positions. During this section, they also allowed a few EBA sounds to come out: "YEAH!" "WHOO!" "HEY!" Their rhythms had become more complex, and they had taken on the rhythm of the melody a little at times.

Zante ended up adding another one at the end of the section: "ALL RIGHT!!" he cheered, pumping a claw up. His claws had, as some of them noticed, gotten longer and wickeder. Wait, more wicked...wickeder doesn't look right...anyway..."NOW we're talking! I feel like I'm gonna burst with this feeling!! Whatever you're supposed to be doing, I think this is it!! I feel like a million Poké!!"

"Yeah, like you'd have it long," joked his girlfriend, chuckling.

"Oh, come on! I'd save it, I swear!!" he said over his shoulder. His face was still freakish, but when he smiled at her, he looked oddly sweet and caring, despite his more wild appearance. This sweetness calmed Vesp down considerably.

--**(O)**--

(-)(Instrumental)

Zante looked back to the Agents, looking like he was about to explode. "Ooooooh...! I can't hold it anymore!!" he cried. "I gotta let some of this energy off!! Aw, screw it, let's see if you can follow me!! LET'S GO!!"

He began to dance his own sort of moves, which were, on purpose, formulated to match the same sort of direction-oriented moves he'd noticed that the three humans had been doing. He did one set during four measures, then said, "Hit it!" on beat four when he was done.

The hopeful future Agents copied his moves with theirs.

Then Zante did more, and the Agents did them, too. This kept going on, back and forth, getting longer each time, until the groove wouldn't let them do it perfectly anymore, and the "Agents" began doing totally new moves on their own after Zante did his. They kept going and going, making sounds of encouragement as they went on, like Agents would normally.

Finally, at the last part of the section, Zante pulled an eight-measure dance of surprising complexity and difficulty, not to mention considerable style for an obese cat-ferret. But when the "Agents" went to do theirs, it was amazing the sort of dancing they did, all in unison, with the rhythm and complexity. They even learned new moves right there! They were in the groove that much!!

Impressed, Zante let out a loud, "YYYYEEEEAHHHH!!" beat 1 of the last measure, extending to beat 4, where the "Agents" let out an energetic, "YEAH-HOO!!" to tail it off. Their audience, which had recently grown to many other pokémon in the forest around, clapped and cheered for the performance.

**"SQUEADLY WINS!!"** cried Vesp.

"DANG!" Zante said, then laughed.

The "Agents" were grinning full-force by now.

--**(O)**--

The time had arrived. Zante grinned again and went back to his conducting. "Alright, guys," he said, "you can feel it too, right? Then, you must know that this is IT. The grand finale. So KNOCK 'EM DEAD! BREAK A LEG!! SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF AND DO YOUR THING!!"

He didn't need to tell them twice. Travis proudly called, "Let's finish out!!"

""YEAH!""

(-)Look at you!

-You're not alright

-Stressin' day and night

-Such a bad sight

-Can't do things right

-You kill by fright

-Ghost from a life made fight

-I know your plight

-Want you to see the light

-Open your eyes and it might

-Make you high as a kite

-Be all your stress's blight

-Make your flame once more ignite ((Maybe "flame reignite" is better?))

-See, if you keep letting yourself

-Always feel so uptight

-You're setting yourself up

-To make like dynamite!!

-So LET LOOSE!!

-It's time to party

-So release all of your tension away!

-LET LOOSE!!

-C'mon, let's dance,

-And forget the stress of today!

-Just jive!

-For now, let's be happy

-That we're still alive!

-Let loose!

-Break free!

-Just dance!

-Get happy!

This time, the verse was a sort of...well, I dunno what it exactly is called, but it's a totally different part of the song. This time, it went up slowly in scales, each verse starting one note up from the first note that started the previous scale. Then, on "Open your eyes and it might," it began to do its own melody, culminating in the calmer final four lines of the verse which climaxed in the word "dynamite," which was practically screamed out(by the "Agents," not Zante, surprisingly). With this part, the "Agents" pulled off rhythms to the melody, which actually was pretty simple. But when they got to the final chorus, they, instead of doing normal moves as they had been, did their very first chorus dance. (Technically, though, the spinner still came at the end, though; they still did the chorus dance, though.) They hit the rhythms and timing of the dance perfect. How did they do it? Well, they got bits and pieces down during the dance-off instrumental section from previous. They managed to string them all together to make a chorus dance.

Finally, they had hit the final mark and were left to sing it all out. So in came the chorus again, while Zante was jumping for joy at the whole show. "WONDERFUL! ABSOLUTELY KICK-ASS!! That was AWESOME!! You guys can SING!! You guys can DANCE!! YOU GUYS CAN CHEER!! WHOOOOOO!!" He had changed a bit by then, as well. His body had grown everywhere a bit more--he was taller, more muscular, and, go figure, fatter. His fur was more ragged, and was starting to, indeed, flutter about. His tail was longer and bigger and, in contrast to what the rest of his body was doing, silkier and sleeker and now positively gorgeous to behold. Yet he had this air of pure positivity about his wild appearance. It rippled the grass around him, pulsating out of him. "I feel GREAT!! You guys should, too!" His voice was close to changing, too. With tears coming from his eyes, he said, with all his heart,

"YOU'RE GOING TO SAVE YOUR PARENTS, TRAVIS MONKSHOOD!!"

Travis surpressed a gasp as he continued to sing the final chorus. He kept going, though, until it was all finished. Then, the vocals done, all there was to do was swing along as the song's instrumental played out to a huge, funky, jazzy big finish, to which Zante jived and danced to, slamming down his huge claws at the final note.

(-)So LET LOOSE!!

(-)It's time to party

(-)So release all of your tension away!

(-)LET LOOSE!!

(-)C'mon, let's dance,

(-)And forget the stress of today!

(-)Just jive!

(-)For now, let's be happy

(-)That we're still alive!

(-)Let loose!

(-)Break free!

(-)Just dance!

(-)Get happy!

- - -

The scene ended then and there, with three grinning "Agents," an applauding pokémon audience, and a strange-looking zangoose kneeling there, on the ground on his knees, belly spilled out and paw supporting him as he laughed and whoo'd the remaining energy in his body away.

--

Finally, after the music was done, the world seemed to breathe again. And then, Travis, Frank, and Dorian looked at each other, then jumped and cheered and slapped high-fives. "WE DID IT! WE DID IT!!" cried each of them. "WE ROCK!!" Yena and Coaty came over to join them in their revelry.

Vesp, however, was more worried about her boyfriend. "Zante...?" she asked, slithering over cautiously. "Are you okay...?"

Zante panted, then rolled onto his back. He was still bigger than normal, and his fur still fluttered a little. "Yeah...just...so much...energy...I'm trying to hold it back...but...ugh...wow..." He panted as he looked at himself, propping up on his paws. His eyes, still a bit wild, widened. "WOAH! How the heck did THIS happen?" he asked aloud. Then, with a yelp, he watched himself change MORE, his fur becoming longer and more ragged, his girth increasing, and his tail becoming downright frikkin' sweet. "Wait," he realized after a moment of growth and change, holding a growing claw up. "I can feel it...the energy's escaping a little..." He stemmed it up, panting again.

Vesp frowned worriedly. "Oh, my...This...isn't natural..." she muttered. "How...?"

Meanwhile, everyone else was celebrating. Travis was the most excited, dancing with Yena in a circle. "We can do it! We can do it!" he sang happilly, laughing and crying in happiness. "There's still ho-ope! There's still ho-ope!"

Dorian and Frank were talking excitedly about what they'd just experienced. "That was just so plain frikkin' awesome!" Frank said. "It was like...like...feeling like you were getting a perfect high score or something!"

"Or like you were kicking everyone's arse in a Deathmatch on Halo or something!" Dorian compared.

Travis grinned as he joined them. "This, my friends," he said, "was the feeling that the Agents give their targets, I'm thinking. Whatever it is, it works REALLY well..." He looked up to his parents' window. "...and let's just hope that, if Zante's reaction is any proof, it'll be good enough..."

Dorian and Frank looked at him quizzically. "His reaction?" asked Frank.

"What do you mean?" Dorian queried.

Travis sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well, aren't YOU Captains Clueless...You didn't notice the fact his personality changed a bit? He got more wild, as did his body. In fact..." He looked over to the pokémon. "I'd say he's practically becoming some sort of monster beyond that of a pocket monster..." Mouth set in a worried line, he ran over to him. His friends all followed, pokémon included. He skidded to a halt nearby the well-grown--now 8.2', not counting tail--normal-type. "You feeling okay?" he asked.

Zante grinned. "That's the thing," he chuckled, "I feel better than I have in years...like I can take on the world...I feel it wanting to get out...I don't know how to do so, though, without, well..." He let it go a bit, and all onlookers save for his girlfriend gasped as they watched him grow and change more. He stopped it with a little effort. "Ugh...see? I...think y'might've overdone it..."

Travis gulped. "I'm sorry, Zante," he said. "Don't...Don't worry. If it's permanent, you can stay with us. We're werewolves; we're quite used to this kind of thing." He smiled sympathetically. "However, from the sounds of it, I think you need to just stop letting it fester inside. I have a feeling what happened, but I don't know for sure, yet. Go on, let it go."

"Better out than in," Frank offered.

"And, besides, you're still sane, right?" Dorian asked. "So you'll be able to control yourself."

Zante smiled and nodded. "O...Okay..." He weakly stood up. "Stand back, everyone, cuz I'm lettin' it all out..." Everyone gave him clearance. When it was safe, he closed his eyes and released all of it. The rush was amazing, and he gasped as it left him. He grew at a remarkable rate, getting fatter, buffer, furrier, and overall wilder with each passing second. His fangs became longer and narrower, his snout growing out a bit to accomidate them, his eyes slowly lost the pupils, he grew wicked, red hair, his "M" on his chest became more pronounced, his tail got HUGE and soft and fluffy, quickly looking like there was a pure white snowdrift attatched to his rear end, and his claws got GARGANTUAN. Then, when he was about done, his wild face suddenly softened. His eyes grew back to normal, his mouth, though still filled with large, long, narrow, scary teeth, shrank back, and he looked a bit gentler again. Finally, he stopped, towering at 40 feet tall and God-knows how heavy. His fat belly, which had gone to his knees before, was now big enough to go halfway down his shins. And, after a test from his brave girlfriend, yes, it was still as soft as a feather pillow.

After it was over at last, Zante gazed at his new body. "Holy crap," he boomed, then clapped his mouth shut--carefully. "I forgot! I'm as loud as a thunderclap now!" he whispered. "I'll have to whisper..."

"HEY!! CAN YOU HEAR US DOWN HERE?!" called Travis.

He looked down and smiled, giving as best a thumbs-up as he could. 'Let's get these in, shall we?' he thought, and sheathed them. To his surprise, they went in to just as much as normal, despite their size. He blinked, then shrugged before carefully moving to a place he could crouch down. This then presented a problem. "Uh...Great...I can't reach you guys," he muttered, sweatdropping. His stomach was in the way.

This caused an uproar of laughter from below, which made him blush. "Sorry, Zante," Travis said, "but that's really just so silly!!" He sighed and shook his head, then went to the task of getting up to him. He tried climbing, but he couldn't, not really. Shrugging, he decided to change shape, himself, and enter his wolf form. With the extra legstrength, he was able to jump high enough to hit a place he could grab onto. He made the poor oversized pokémon tickle as he scaled him. Finally, he got up top, panting, before opting to transform back. "Hey, Zante," he greeted as he crawled over. He sank in as if he was on a waterbed. He looked around. 'And I thought Jet was huge! This guy's a few spikes short of a Godzilla-style daikaiju!'

Zante smiled and waved, blushing. "Er...I guess I'm gonna stay all big and scary for awhile, huh?" he asked, using as gentle a voice he could.

Travis shrugged. "Until I know how to reverse it, I guess so," he said. He then paled. "Oh, crap!! Think of how my parents are gonna react! I'm TOAST!!" he realized, grabbing his hair in horror. This caused Zante to laugh, which pitched Travis into the air a bit, making HIM laugh from the bouncing ride. "Ho, man, we could get RICH offa this thing!" he realized, bouncing up and down. "The world's largest trampoline!!"

Zante blinked at the irony compared to last night, but dismissed it. "Well, only if I get to have all the food I want," he joked.

Travis smiled, then, settling down to sit, said, "Thanks, Zante." He looked up with smiling eyes. "Thanks for helping us."

Zante smiled back. "Hey, it's my pleasure, really," he replied. "I like helping people; besides, I can't HELP but help people. I guess it's the way my heart is." He put a paw on his stomach gently, successfully not making Travis bounce too much. "You guys had all the talent; all I did was guide you along. You're amazing! If you can make an obese zangoose into a giant monster, I bet you'll be able to save your folks, no sweat!"

Travis smiled more at this. "Thanks! I'll try my best...no, WE'LL try OUR best, I mean," he corrected himself. He sighed after a while. "Thanks. You don't know how important this is to me."

"Yeah, I kinda do," Zante said, smiling and putting his chin on his stomach a ways in front of Travis. "At my winter home, I had a family, too. I still do, I guess." He looked up in the sky at the clouds, his own cloud-like tail twitching a little. "We all have a family, really. At least, the ones who have people in the world. I really feel bad for the ones who don't. But I know they're find some. Because then, when they've found someone who cares, they can start a new family. And they'll never wanna let go."

Travis nodded, looking up at the clouds, too. "Yeah..." He couldn't help but cry a little bit. "...Thank you."

"No problem."

A few minutes later, Zante, suddenly, began to shrink. He joked, "I'M MELTING! I'M MELTING!" to the delight of his girlfriend and easilly-amused Frank. It took a couple minutes, but soon, Travis, then Zante were both back on the ground, with the latter back to normal size and look. He gasped as he looked at himself. "I'm not a snorlax's dream anymore!" he cried in joy before being tackled lovingly by his girlfriend. "Ack! Not in public!" he laughed as the sky was seen again.

"Travis?" Dorian was heard asking. "What're we gonna do now?"

"What else?" Travis asked. "Pick a song, practice, and then save my parents."

"Oh," said his friend. "Sounds easy enough."

"Great, thanks for jinxing it," Frank joked.

Travis sighed. "I hope you haven't...I really hope you haven't..."

...

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

...

TEUUSHH!!

--

--

--

--

-

--

Kahn and Foxx looked over the tape again and again. They nodded after the umpteenth time. "Well," Kahn said, "I see that our helping people can, indeed, produce dangerous results if we help the wrong person."

Foxx held a finger up. "We should take into account the fact that Zante IS giving off a unique reading, as was the way the novice Agent-wannabes did their song," she pointed out, "but the fact that they cheered without a target who was going to use the energy given to them by the Agents' cheering remains. He wasn't letting the energy wash over him, as you and Doumeki Kai do when training new recruits, so he must have been absorbing it and storing it."

"This could have caused him to change so drastically," Kahn deduced. "I mean, we've never seen what happens when I target is filled with energy but doesn't DO anything. I know he wasn't a target, but I suppose, since he was right in front of them, he was considered theirs." He shrugged. "I suppose we should study this more...I sort of almost wish we could try it ourselves, but I shudder to think of what might happen to a human subject..."

"Remember, his bandanna didn't break when he grew," reminded Foxx, knowing where he was going with that double endentre and giving a warning smile. "But we don't know if it was merely the interesting energy field he's giving off naturally or something different. We should try to avoid that, though we know that, if it DOES happen again, then letting the energy release is likely the best thing to do."

Kahn nodded. "Alright. Now, what would you say about Travis, Dorian, and Frank?"

Foxx opened up the respective windows. "I'd say that they're undoubtedly Agent material," she said.

Kahn nodded. "Very good," he said. "My thoughts exactly. They've exhibited a power much the same like the power that Agents Lock, Meyers and Hunter used on their first, albiet unofficial, mission. I will admit, though, it was considerably more powerful, but that might be because they had to do it all from the beginning."

Foxx agreed. "I think that they have the potential to somehow form their own, slapdash Agency that works sort of like the Ouendan, using their hearts to find targets instead of our computers." She put the laptop away. "I think that that is all."

Kahn nodded. "Alright, Diva Foxx, thank you. DIS-MISSED!"

"YESSIR!"

When she left the room, Kahn chuckled, smirking. "Of all the places to do it...I never would have thought it would be in a..."

--

HOLY GUACAMOLE I JUST BORED THE HELL OUT OF YOU ALL!! And my pinky HURTS from pressing shift! XD;; Sorry for the heavy furry influence. It just came to me, and I think I answered a question not many have asked: What if you're filled with EBA/Ouendan power, but don't use it? I wonder if my overload theory would work on humans, and if so, how? Hmmm...Thanks for bearing with me, everyone!! You rock!!

Speaking of rock, I've got to comment on the song used in this chapter. It's:

"Let Loose" by FerreTrip

Yes. MINE. And ya wanna know the sad part? I've had this scene in my head for a long time, and I couldn't help but write a song that Travis and co. could jam to to get into the thing Agents do. I never did plan to have it be a normal mission, and that worked, but I never planned to have Zante turn into a monster--or, in translation into furry speak, turn really fin' sexy XD; Okay, not really sexy to ALL furries--just the fetishy ones. I love the touch I did with the tail...imagine the softest silk scarf in the world, people...Aaaaah, I feel calmer already just thinking about that touch...Yyyyyeah, it's nearly 1:00 AM Saturday morning, I'm going of into tangents XD;;

I described the song the way I did because, well, I DO have it written out a bit. I'm in Music Theory II at school, and we recently had to do a composition project--which I turned in extremely late--which involved modulation. I was stuck on what to do when, one night, I suddenly stumbled upon it when wondering how I could put my lyrics to song. (By the way, notice the rhyming scheme for the lyrics? Yeah, 'twas a pain in the buttocks to get it right...) I found that I had ended up writing a song, main melody and lyrics, for something as unimportant as a FANFICTION. Not an ORIGINAL fiction, a FANfiction. Something that won't make me money any day. Can you say, "NERD!!"? XD;

Well, I hope to get Let Loose onto the computer, complete with my awful singing voice, and set it to some freebie software I have that, I hope, will have a good slap bass clone, 'cuz that's gonna be one of the most important parts in the song, since it's the thing that's going to keep the funk vibe going. Gonna be a MPITA to write, but I hope I can gather enough to do it.

Bleh. So anyway, Those lyrics are MINE and MINE ALONE. (C) 2008 FerreTrip!! You steal, I sick the fuz on you. And, no, it's not the soft fuzz of Zante, it's the fuzz that you NEVER call bacon.

Sooooo...I hope you liked this chapter! Oh, and please tell me how you feel about my lyrics, at least!


	20. X: : : Evolutions : : :X

(20)( ) (Changes) (Are) (Made)

Kioshi, Suzu, Hibiki, and the pokémon walked along, going at a moderate pace today through the endless forests spanning between cities in the world of Pokémon. They had recently gotten lost, having deviated into the forest a bit on a wild goose chase of a shortcut. Right now, they were heading through the sunset in the direction of a city on the way to Vermillion...well, actually, they were on the way TO the way to Vermillion. They had Hibiki to thank for that, since he had insisted on being the navigator.

"I thought it was due south! I swear!" he pleaded again, frowning. "That's what it was like in the games!"

"Do you remember going through a forest on the way to Vermillion?" asked Kioshi, half-eyeing him.

Hibiki thought a moment, then sighed in defeat. "No, can't say I do," he admitted, arms and head hanging down as his upper body sagged forward.

"Let's try and not worry about that for now, though," said Suzu. "We should get to the city and to the Center there. I want a nice bed of bed, not ground, tonight."

Then, for the umpteenth time since getting them all, Kioshi had to suddenly kick away a pokéball that had come flying out of nowhere to catch one of the pokémon following them--this time, Totodile. The little gator pokémon yelped in surprise at this as Kioshi, anger-veining, called, "Hel-LO?!" in English, the same way Americans say it when dealing with a clueless person. Continuing in his native tounge, he pointed out, "These pokémon are all travelling behind us in a nice little line--wouldn't you think that they'd be with us?!"

The guilty trainer stepped out of the bushes a few meters away, frowning and crossing his arms. He was dirty blonde, short-haired, somewhat vertically challanged, and had on a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a black backpack. His pokéballs were along the straps, three per strap. Disgruntled, he asked, sneering with green eyes, "Then why're you keepin' 'em outta their balls?"

Kioshi growled his standard response to the question, "To give them fresh air. Is that so much to ask?" He sighed and turned forwards again. "C'mon, let's go."

The trainer anger-veined, this time, and stamped his foot as he held a fist and shouted, "HEY! Come back here!! I'm not through with you!!"

Kioshi twitched to a halt, one leg raised, and turned on the heel of the leg he was standing on. With crossed arms, he said, "Three on three, then."

The trainer smirked, getting off three of the balls on his straps. Then, he raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you're used to this," he commented.

"That is true."

"Then you should probably have learned by now--"

"I do what I want, okay?" Kioshi cut him off. "Let's get this over with--we're in a hurry." He stood forwards and faced the trainer from the other side of the small field between them. He crossed his arms Evening style. Out of the corner of his mouth, he mumbled, "I'm planning Totodile first, then Teddiursa, and finally Dratini," to his party. The three nodded affirmatively. (They had reached a Center before this time; therefore, Teddiursa's burning was healed.)

The trainer enlarged a ball. "Heh...Prepare to fall at the hands of the mighty Tag!!" he trash-talked.

"'Tag?' What kinda nickname is that?" Kioshi raised his eyebrow.

"It's 'cuz everyone knows who's 'it'! And I'm going to be the ULTIMATE 'it'!" he explained, throwing out his ball. "C'mon, Masquerain!!"

As Tag's pokémon came out, Kioshi grumbled, "That...really doesn't make ALL that much sense..." before saying, "Change of plan, guys. Dratini! You're up first!!"

Dratini did so, ignoring Tag's laughter at her silly, hat-wearing appearance, and stood proudly before her opponent. "C'mon! Bring it!" she cried out to Masquerain.

Masquerain sweatdropped. "Er...alright," she said back. Dratini barely heard her mumbling to herself, "Man, when're the others going to come? I can't do this on my own!"

Dratini raised an eyeridge. "'Others?' Uh, they're gonna come when Tag wants 'em to, probably when I lay you out flat on the grass," she said back.

Masquerain sort of jumped--she jarred a bit in midair in surprise and emitted a surprised squeak. "ISAIDNOTHING!!" she cried quickly.

Dratini switched eyeridges, humming in thought.

"Uh, Masquerain? Hello?" Tag called, sweatdropping and waving an arm(despite the fact that her back was turned to him). "I said to use Confuse Ray..."

"And I said to dodge it, Dratini..." Kioshi informed the Dragon-type, sweatdropping as well.

""OH!! SORRY!!"" cried the two pokémon, jumping and sweatdropping before carrying out orders. Masquerain fired the ray and Dratini leapt out of the way.

Suzu and Hibiki sighed at this. "I supposed they were a bit preoccupied with their conversation, huh?" Suzu muttered to Hibiki.

"Mm-hmm," agreed the male Bluendan member. "I'm always amazed at how pokémon have their own language and such, just about as complex as ours," he commented after a bit of battle-watching.

"Mmm." Suzu agreed, nodding.

Totodile and Teddiursa sat and watched from beside Kioshi, on the grass to his right. Teddiursa tilted his head a bit while he pondered. "Hmmmmm...Totodile?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Totodile had answered his friend, but had kept watching the battle, ready for anything and itching to fight.

"Whatcha think that Drats was talking about back there? 'Others'? Hmmmm..." The bear pokémon crossed his little arms and lowered his head, thinking. His stomach grumbled a little, but he ignored it, the matter at hand more pressing than what his body wanted.

Totodile shrugged. "I'm thinking Dratini heard Masquerain mumble something about other people coming," he said. "That'd explain her comment, which I agree with. And you should really have eaten something before this started up."

"I don't care right now," Teddiursa said. "And besides," he added, smiling slyly at the louder grumble coming from Totodile's belly, making the Water-type blush, "I don't really listen to hypocrytes."

Totodile sighed. "Awright, I'll admit we didn't have time to eat 'cuz we didn't know this'd happen, and yeah...I just wanted to get ya for something for once," he admitted.

Teddiursa smirked. "Yeah, right, like that's ever gonna happen, Capt. Clueless," he joked.

Totodile rolled his eyes at this. He was turning his head back to the battle when he caught something during the eye-roll. "Hey...What in the...?"

"Hm?" Teddiursa perked his ears. "What's up? All I smell is someone coming down the road..."

Totodile, though, thought otherwise. "Uh, I dunno," he said uneasilly, standing up and looking around. "I thought I saw a flash of black in those trees..."

Teddiursa chuckled, standing up as well. "Yeah? Nice try, but how can you see a--"

Suddenly, behind Totodile's shoulder, he caught a flash of black in the leaves of the bushes behind the blue-scaled one.

"--I stand corrected," he said in a low voice, a little impressed.

Totodile grinned. "Gotcha for once!" he hissed in victory.

Teddiursa closed his eyes and looked up, frowning and shaking both a finger and his head. "Nope, no, that doesn't count," he said. "It has to be something I could have noticed before. It was behind me, right? Then it doesn't count."

Totodile growled in frustration. "Toooooh...Still...I don't...like the looks of this..." he muttered, looking left and right.

Dratini grunted as she braced against another Body Slam, this one one she couldn't avoid. "NNnni! Not bad!" She sprung back and was about to do what Kioshi ordered--Flash--when she suddenly felt something in her chest. She raised an eyeridge, but did the attack in time. She was a bit slow, though, and Masquerain had had time to react and shut her eyes. 'This feeling...(Whoops...) What is it? Wait...' She realized that she'd been feeling it for about since a quarter minute after the battle officially began. 'A little after Masquerain made that comment about others...This is...wait, it's familiar...What?...'

Suzu and Hibiki were raising eyebrows now, and Kioshi was tightening his fists. "Why do I feel other people starting to come around us?" asked Hibiki to Suzu.

Suzu shrugged. "I dunno. Can't POSSIBLY be people trying to get the jump on us," she said. "I mean, seriously. In the world of Pokémon?" She shook her head. "It can't happen."

Kioshi wasn't too sure. 'Not if what Doumeki-sama says is true and that the Agents faced trouble...but this is people, real people...I can feel them...' He shook his head. 'Getting paranoid,' he dismissed it with while commanding an attempt at Bind. 'They're not that close.'

"Probably people passing through," Hibiki muttered, noticing the same and not that worried. "Still interesting, though."

Tag growled. "Dodge it!!" he cried to Masquerain. Then, suddenly, he saw something that made him do a frantic little dance for some reason. Just as quickly, he ordered, "Take that back! Get hit!"

Masquerain looked at Tag like he was high, then did as she was told. Dratini, starting to catch on what was going to happen, though, jumped and wrapped around the Hoenn pokémon, the two falling to the ground.

Tag grinned and pointed. "CONFUSE RAY!"

Kioshi paled, then cursed. "Should've expected that!" he grumbled.

Dratini, thankfully, was smart enough to have caught on ot the trick, and was now more suspicious than ever of attempted foulplay. She sqeezed her eyes tight as the Confuse Ray hit point blank, hoping that it would save her.

Tag grinned as Masquerain fluttered up again, masklike body facing down at the rarity. "It worked!" he sang.

"It worked!" Masquerain said in surprise. "He fell for it..."

"Dratini!" Kioshi cried, reaching out to her. "C'mon, snap out of it!"

Dratini, though, swayed on the spot, looking dizzy. "Tiiii...niiiii...driiiiii..." she muttered in her dazed state.

Totodile cursed. "Aw, c'mon! That's cheap!!" he cried.

"That's strategy, my dear Watson," Teddiursa corrected his collegue. "It's legal, and a great escape tactic for prey pokémon. Let 'em get close, then blast 'em with Confuse Ray when they can't escape!"

Totodile pouted. "Still the world's most annoying attack," he complained. He then shivered. "OOoogh...You feel that?" he asked, holding his arms as he looked over to the bear.

Teddiursa held his arms, too. "Yeah, a chill going down my spine," he confirmed, looking to the gator.

"Whatcha think it means?" Totodile wondered.

"It means I'm outta the hotseat," muttered Masquerain, who was still floating, no commands having been given while Tag trash-talked Kioshi, who was about ready to give his pokémon a good, "OSU!"

Totodile heard this and raised his eyeridges. "Huh? A chill down our spines means a pokémon switch?" he asked in confusion.

Masquerain fluttered frantically again in surprise. "IDIDN'TSAYANYTHING!!" she shouted quickly.

Totodile and Teddiursa exchanged eyeridge/-brow raises before hearing a muffled pair of "MMMPH!!"'s from behind them. "To?" "Ted?" The two whipped around and saw, to their surprise, Suzu and Hibiki getting grabbed into the bushes.

"!" Kioshi spun around to look, sensing his friends getting taken. "GUYS!" he cried. 'But I thought they were still far from being close!!'

"GOTCHA!!" Tag cried, dashing forward and tacking Kioshi to the ground.

Kioshi was grappled by a pair of arms that was deceptively strong. "UWAH! CHEATER! What the hell are you--" he began before getting a hand clamped around his mouth.

"Tag..." Tag said.

"Yer..." continued a voice from the bushes where Suzu was pulled.

"It!!" finished a third, this one from where Hibiki had gone.

The two others leapt out of the bushes, dressed up the same way as Tag. They all three bore the same exact appearance, from face to feet. However, the one grabbing Suzu was medium height and the one with Hibiki was tall. Kioshi looked up in shock and saw that his comrades and he were really in a bind, literally. Their bags were stripped from them now, and they were unable to move and speak legibly, so they couldn't escape with any cheering moves.

"Yer! It! Get 'em!" called Tag, nodding his head to the other two pokémon. "Then we'll loot these guys for what they're worth and tie 'em up and swipe their pokémon!"

""RIGHT!!"" Yer and It called back. ((Yer is, btw, the one who has Suzu, and It has Hibiki, if you couldn't tell already.)) They grabbed three balls out each and threw them out, revealing more pokémon. Tag had opened his to reveal his other two.

Tag now had out a Masquerain, a Scyther, and a Ledian. Yer had out a Venomoth, a Heracross, and an Ariados. It had out a Parasect, a Beedrill, and a Pinsir. Suzu was about going ballistic, fighting for her dear life to get away from the big bugs(especially the Ariados and the Beedrill). "Boss?" asked Yer, sweatdropping while looking a bit annoyed.

"Go ahead," Tag said, nodding without really caring.

"Thanks," Yer said, and he whacked Suzu in a precise spot on her neck. She was immediately unconscious. Hibiki soon followed suit.

Tag did the same to Kioshi, then grinned and pointed at the three pokémon. "Now! GO!"

The nine pokémon made their cries in affirmation and charged.

Totodile and Teddiursa yelped and braced themselves. "Too many of them!" Totodile growled.

"We're gonna die!!" wailed Teddiursa.

Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the area, and all the Bug-types cowered back for a moment. Dratini had dropped the act and was now by her two pokémon friends. "I knew something was going on!" she said. "I didn't recognize the feeling of danger in my chest because I was in battle! You guys were lucky!"

Tag chuckled, dragging off Kioshi. "I dunno what you're sayin', little dratini, but it's futile to resist."

Dratini, in response, gave him one HELL of a glare. And I'm talkin' the fires of Hell, here; fire was actually almost visible in the deep black pools.

Tag raised his eyebrows, mock-impressed. "Woah-ho! Well, now, guys, I think we ought to see this!" he jeered, and the three laughed. He reached the other two, set Kioshi down, then waited, using the Ouendan's chest as a seat.

Totodile and Teddiursa looked in amazement at Dratini. "Dratini..." Teddiursa muttered.

Dratini looked behind her, and they almost recoiled at the fire in her eyes. "C'mon! We need to do this! For Kioshi and his friends! Our friends!" she said valiantly. The vehemence was strong in her voice, and the two others felt something sligtly jar their skeletons.

Totodile and Teddiursa looked at each other, amazed, then nodded, serious looks on their faces. Turning back, they said together, ""Right!""

"We'll do our best!" Totodile promised fervently.

"Especially because we want to sleep on actual beds tonight!! I've never really done that before on my own!" Teddiursa added with the same fervence.

This almost made his friends anime fall, but they caught themselves and got in position. "We can do this!" Dratini cried. "Let's GO!!"

With that echoing cry, the three sprang out to attack.

"ATAAAAAACK!" cried the now-confident Masquerain, and they all charged back.

Dratini charged over and used a mighty Slam to whack away Pinsir. Totodile sprayed a Water Gun and hit Scyther. Teddiursa used a good Fury Swipes on Ariados. However, the other ones went and hit them back with other attacks. The three got up and tried again, though, fire springing in their eyes.

"So low!" thought Dratini aloud. "Striking when Kioshi, Suzu, and Hibiki weren't even expecting it fully...no warning! How cheap!!" She grunted and unleashed a Water Gun, herself.

"Yeah!" agreed Totodile, giving a great big Bite attack to Venomoth, then spitting out the bad taste. "(Pleh! Yuck!) And you guys are all working with them?!"

"You oughtta be ashamed!" scolded Teddiursa. "There's far from any pride in working with criminals, y'know!" He tried his best attempt at Crush Claw on Heracross, but it failed. "Dangit!"

Heracross grabbed Teddiursa, scoffing. "(Oh, REAL intimidating, there!) We're just following orders, kiddo," he said. "Besides, they said that there's a lotta good food in store for us later on!"

Teddiursa growled and beat furiously, flailing around. "Oh, and THAT justifys things?! COME ON!!"

(Totodile decided not to point out that his comrade had just a little bit ago implied he's doing this because he wants a soft bed to sleep in and focused instead on his own fights.)

The three fought vailiantly, but there were just too many of them. Soon, they were all standing together, backs to each other, surrounded by a ring of Bug pokémon. Dratini was panting, her hat barely on her head anymore. Totodile bore a few scratches and had a paw on his knee to support him. Teddiursa had a little tuft of fur missing now on his back, and was barely (n.p.i.) able to stand up. "Okay," he said, "I'm getting a bit tired..."

"Yeah...me too..." Totodile agreed, wiping off some sweat from his forehead. (Well, between his eyes.)

Dratini growled, panted, growled, panted. "We...can't...give up...but..." 'There's...there's so many of them...I can't even get a good Hyper Beam in...' The fire in her eyes was flickering, threatening to go out from the onset of hopelessness from the situation. She glanced at Kioshi. 'Kioshi...I'm sorry...'

Tag smirked. "This ain't gonna take much longer, my brothers," he said. He looked down at Suzu and Hibiki. "Man, who do these guys think they are, anyway? All dressed up in uniform like that when it's at LEAST 80F out? Some stupid military snots?"

Dratini stopped, glaring at them.

"Naw, that guy you're sitting on looks like a two-bit cheer squad member," said Yer, pointing. "These guys look like some fancy-shmancy school kids walking the whole way home from their fancy schools a mile away, struttin' their fancy uniforms around while they're doing it!"

"Naw, American military snots!" It contradicted, agreeing with the smallest of his brothers. He pointed to their insignia. "It's in English lettering...O...E...N...I wonder what that stands for?" he thought aloud.

Dratini paled. 'Oh, no, please...'

After a second, Tag grinned and said, "Over-Eating Nimrods!" in English.

"That's really lame! No! They're Overqualified Eternal Nosebleeders!!" Yer tried.

"Naw, I think it stands for Overachieving Ex-Lax-Eating Nuts-For-Brains!!"

"...Dude, THAT'S takin' some liberties..."

"Aw, shaddup, it was better than you guys'..."

The insults sucked, but to Dratini, the fact that they wanted to find really bad insults for them was horrific. Then, Tag pointed to Kioshi's armband, and said,

"Heh! This guy's armband says, 'Hey!' I think that means, 'Hey, look at me, I'm a priss who waves his arms around like a retard shouting random stuff and making everyone hate me!!' HA-HA-HAAAH!"

This was the last straw. Eyes ablaze, Dratini exploded, "YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!!"

"YEAH!! NOBODY GETS AWAY WITH ANY-A THAT CRUD!!" agreed Totodile. He wasn't happy at all, either, that ANYONE would want to insult someone like that.

"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT KINDA STUFF, YOU LOWLIFES!!" roared Teddiursa as loud as his squeaky voice could let him.

The boys looked at the three of them, but mainly Dratini, and laughed at their squeaky voices. Dratini gritted her teeth and charged towards them, only to be met by a wall of Bug types. She stopped and said, frighteningly calmly, "Out of the way."

"No can do, kiddo," said the Ariados. "We can't let you near our trainers. You know that, right?"

Totodile and Teddiursa joined Dratini. ""Out of the way,"" they said firmly.

The Bug-types just shook their heads, laughing. "Oh, so cute to see little babies trying to act tough!" Pinsir jeered.

Dratini glared at them with all her might. "OUT OF THE WAY!!" she hollered, and charged with amazing strength, sailing into the stomach of the brown beast at an incredible velocity. The other two charged, as well, and the fight began anew. They got hit again and again, but they never gave in. However, they still didn't get very far. They landed more hits, but not much. Again, they were faced all around. This time, though, all three stood firm, ready for more.

Tag laughed. "Come ON, you three," he called, "give up already!! You're fighting so hard, it's admirable, but for a group of uniform-toting losers?"

""Yeah!"" agreed his brothers.

Dratini snapped her view to get eye contact with him. Totodile and Teddiursa did to the other two, as well. When they made contact and the humans looked into the pokémon's eyes, their smiles faded into looks of astoundment. Their eyes were literally ablaze, and the gazes they gave made them feel...scared.

Dratini's, however, was the most effective. Tag felt like he was looking into obsidian pools of firey chaos, so hot he could feel it from there. He felt like he was being shot through with a pair of laser beams. It was like the worst Glare attack in the world, but so much more. "Wh...What the...??" he muttered, starting to scootch back. He couldn't hear anything. Not even his brothers shouting in surprise. He couldn't see anything--anything but those eyes. And fire. Fierce fire. All he could hear was, to his surprise, human speech in his soul while pokémon speech was heard in his ears.

"THEY..." Totodile growled, white and growing a bit.

"ARE..." Teddiursa seethed, claws almost lengthening a little.

All Tag could see of Dratini now was a shapeshifting blob of fire, growing and becoming more like a snake of pure fire. Then, with a burst of fire that made him wonder if the entire forest wasn't aflame from it, she roared, "OOOOUUUEEEENNDAAAAAAAAN!!"

The cry, in human all around her in the hearts of anyone who could heaer, roused Kioshi and co. back to conciousness. "Uuuuhn...what...?" he muttered, then saw the kid on him, trying to get away, scrabbling backwards. He anger-viened and almost helped him on his way before he saw why he was escaping. His eyes widened in amazement. "Holy..."

Dratini had evolved into Dragonair, and was practically a snake made entirely of fire from her emotions. The other pokémon backed away from her, a little freaked at the huge amount of energy they felt from her and the other two(but mostly her).

Tag gulped, then, shaking, pointed and ordered, "GET THAT THING!!"

Dragonair coiled up, then sprang out at the Bug-types. "OUTTA MY WAY!!" she cried in pokémon tounge(this wasn't translated in any way to the humans, though). She struck them in a mighty Slam attack, then began fighting with fury.

Totodile, meanwhile, had evolved, too, and was Croconaw, now. He was ticked, too, and was fighting harder, as well. He was now slamming into people with a move that somehow came to him, Aqua Jet. Teddiursa was still a teddiursa, but was fighting with amazing strength of spirit. He was now utilizing Fire Punch, and was combining it with Fury Swipes for deadly effect on the Bug-types.

Together, the three of them, though sustaining a few minor injuries despite this massive burst of energy, took out the big pokémon. At the end was Masquerain, who was fluttering in place, pale as a sheet and panicking. With one look at Dragonair, she shot to the ground, bowed, and whined, "I GIVE UP!!" She was relieved when Dragonair spared her.

"At least SOMEone is wise enough to stay outta my way," said the Dragon-type as she slithered by. She came over to Tag, who was well off of Kioshi by now and cowering at a tree, hiding from the big, scary pokémon in front of him. She gave him a good, hard glare that was, to his dispair, a bit more powerful than the first, and not just because she was closer. She glared at him, looking as he cowered from her, for a few long seconds. Deciding that the fear she felt (and smelt) from him meant enough punishment, and moved away over to Kioshi.

Suzu and Hibiki were standing and gawking at the amount of fire they had seen around Dragonair, fire which was slowly receeding. All that they could utter was an English slang word: ""D'AIIIIIIM...""

Kioshi looked with wonder at his friend. "Wow..." he muttered.

Dragonair didn't glomp him, or hug him, or do anything that he'd expected from her affectionate nature. All she did was jerk her head in the direction of the three brothers. (The other two had been cowering under the glares of the other two, who returned now to Kioshi's side.) Kioshi regained composure and nodded. He faced the three and said, "I guess you've learned not to mess with us, or our pokémon friends, then." They nodded frightenedly. "Recall your pokémon, take them to the Center, all that stuff--we're letting you off easy since I think, from the looks of things, Dratin--er, Dragonair, here," he corrected himself, "seems to have punished you by somehow scaring the living daylights out of you. Before you go, though, we'd like our stuff back."

"And, for your information," added Suzu before they went, giving her best scary lady impression, making the three boys sweatdrop and wonder if she was scarier or if Dragonair was, "there's also a 'U' in laurels on it. I heard in my KO'ed dreams your little names for us. Now, then, what do those letters spell--in romanji?"

They gulped and looked at each other before saying back, """Ouen?"""

"""OSU!!""" cried the Ouendan, pointing to the forest, and the three squealed and scrambled off. (They "OSU!"ed without putting energy into it so that they didn't encourage them, only frighten them.) They returned moments later with their bags, which they dropped in front of them. They recalled their fainted pokémon, bowed quickly while saying, """WE'RE VERY SORRY!!""" and then took off in the other direction, away from where they were going.

After they had left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Whoo!! THAT was exciting!" Hibiki laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "And so many at once! I thought it was something only possible in the Mystery Dungeon games!" he added, looking at their pokémon friends.

"I'm especially impressed with you, Teddiursa!" Suzu commented, smiling and crouching down to the little one. "You didn't need to evolve at all!"

Teddiursa blushed and muttered nigh-incoherently, rubbing the back of his head. His pokémon collegues could only make out, "...as nothing, real..."

Kioshi smiled and turned to Dragonair. "And you, Dra--" But he was cut off by a glomp courtesy of a large snake creature from point blank range. He laughed at the extra-powerful show of affection and patted her head. "And here I was worried you'd gone all serious on me!" he chuckled.

Dragonair just nuzzled his chest. "I'm just glad you're okay!" she said, though he couldn't tell what she was saying, she knew.

Kioshi couldn't help but blush a little. "Well, as I was saying--You, Dragonair, did an excellent job. I'm most impressed that your spirit summoned up such huge flames! I've never seen any of such size before in my life! ...Well, okay, except for Doumeki-sama when he's a bit ticked off, but still, that's pretty huge!"

Dragonair smiled and wrapped around his whole body with her over thirteen feet of length, forgetting for a moment how much stronger she was. She remembered, though, when she saw him going blue in the face, at which point she muttered sounds of apology and released him. Kioshi laughed a bit and fogave her.

"I wonder..." Everyone looked at Suzu, who was crossing her arms and looking down in thought. "Could they have evolved and fought so hard...for us?"

At this, the three looked a little embaressed, like people do when they're basically saying, "Weeeeeell...it was nothing...really..."

Kioshi blushed at this, chuckling a little nervously. "W-Wow, that's pretty nice of you!" he said. "Thank you very much!" He bowed in gratitude 'I swear, that thing has waaaayy too big a crush on me!!' he thought. 'I would be stupid not to think love had anything to do with those flames' size...right?'

Dragonair just cooed and nuzzled up against Kioshi's arm, then pointed with her tail down the road, then to the setting sun.

"She's right," Hibiki said, hitching up a bag. "We'd better get moving if we want to get to town on time."

"Right." Kioshi got his stuff, then looked at the three. "Hmm...Well, I guess we'll have to cope and hope you three won't get hit with a strong pokéball or something," he said. He then noticed the number of wounds they bore. "YOWZA!! You guys need a Center STAT! Let's go!!" he cried in panic. "SURE!"

""SURE!!"" agreed the other two, and the six went along down the trail.

As they went, the pokémon got into a conversation together--once they had all caught their breath. "That was absolutely amazing!" said Teddiursa. "I don't care if I didn't evolve--I totally kicked a Fighting-type's butt! Well, part Fighting, but still!!"

"Yeah," Croconaw nodded, looking at his new body. "This feels kinda cool, but it's nothing too special. So I'm a bit rounder, big deal." He then noticed something. 'Say...shouldn't I actually be a bit MORE rounder?...' He looked at the rest of his limbs. 'Yeah...I feel strong, but...I sure as heck don't look it...'

Dragonair sighed, smiling into the sky. "At least we're all safe," she said. "If we needed to evolve, then sobeit. I mean, hey," she said, giggling, "at least I can really give Kioshi an actual hug now!"

Her friends sweatdropped. "You're REALLLLLLY banking for that beastiality thing, Drats," warned Teddiursa. "...Er, Drags, now, I guess..."

Dragonair sweatdropped at the warning, blushing as well, but shrugged at the latter part. "I guess you could call me that, then, now."

Croconaw looked at himself again. "I never even thought I could USE Aqua Jet like that!" he wondered aloud. "What do you think did it, Dragonair? As in, what made us evolve, and Teddiursa learn to actually fight well?" This earned him a playful punch on the shoulder.

Dragonair shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe the rage we all felt...Maybe it energized us."

After a ways, a thought came to Teddiursa. "Maybe it's..."

A pause. "'Maybe it's' what?" asked Croconaw.

Teddiursa shook his head. "Nothing," he lied. 'Truth be told...I wonder...is it because of her that we did that? I mean, I DID feel as though my energy was spiked by fire, and that was all around Dragonair...from her spirit or something, I THINK...' He shrugged. 'Oh, well, can't think too hard on this. They'd probably think I'm being stupid, anyway.'

The six then continued on in relative quietness to the city.

--

(Yes, it's a long chapter, sorry! I just want these guys to--)

SHUT IT!! DON'T SPOIL IT!!

(...? Uuuuh...you just yelled at yourself...)

Yeah? So? People talk to themselves all the time.

(Yeah, but they don't have conversations...)

...If I was actually TALKING, I'd be getting stared at right now, wouldn't I?

(Yep. Now, then, drop the cheesy unness...unecc...God, I hate spelling, sometimes...)

Needless?

(That'll work--needless stalling, and let's get back to the plot.)

Good plan.

(So, then, they we--)

I'M narrator! YOU'RE comments!!

(AlRIGHT, alRIGHT!! Sheesh...)

clears throat Now, then, after I got yelled at by them ("About time!!"), the group made it to the city and its Center. Kioshi had a bit of trouble insisting that the three pokémon were travelling with him to the other trainers there, but he managed to avoid another battle. When he got to Nurse Joy to give her the three for healing, she gasped at their wounds.

"Oh, MY! They're so hurt!" she gasped, putting her hands to her mouth in shock. "And you've left them out of their balls for how long?"

Kioshi sighed. "Truth be told, Nurse Joy," he said, shrugging, "they're not really MY pokémon; they're just tagging along and letting me battle using them. I know this might sound a bit far-fetched--"

"Where?!" cried many a trainer, looking around.

Kioshi facepalmed, but continued while making no comment on it. "--but those three got hurt protecting me and my friends. Well, reacting to rude comments made to me and my friends..." He grumbled to himself, "They deserved it, too...said I'm flailing my arms around, those rotten..."

"Well," Nurse Joy said, fighting a sweatdrop at his mumbling, "I've seen many a pokémon who's fought for their trainers and friends. Just...if they travel around with you so much, why not just have them in pokéballs, even if it's just for emergency purposes only?"

Kioshi started, then waved his hands. "No, thank you," he said. "They're used to this kinda stuff. Survival in the wild and all, right? Yeah! So, uh, can you please make them stop having to hide how much pain they're in, please?" He clapped his hands together with a pleading, eyebrows-knit smile on his face.

Nurse Joy smiled and nodded. "Of course! Bring them right

this way, please..." She moved to a back room.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" Kioshi said, bowing a bit. He turned and motioned for Dragonair, Croconaw, and Teddiursa. "Ikuze!"

They made sounds of affirmation and walked along with him.

Suzu and Hibiki, arms behind their backs as if in standby position for cheering, stepped into the main lobby after taking care of their bags. "Man," Suzu said, raising her visible eyebrow (remember that she's got an eye covered by hair--I promise to get a picture of them up soon on deviantART, if anyone cares...), "I'm getting a little bit worried that he's starting to really get attached to those guys..." She sighed and hung her head.

Hibiki gave her a sly sideways glance. "Says the girl who's been wanting to cuddle Teddiursa like a teddy bear," he added, causing her to start, making a panicked face.

She whipped her head around to him and growled, "Th-That's something completely different!" while he laughed. She anger-veined. "At least I'M not getting buddy-buddy with Croconaw, Mr. Furry!"

Hibiki instantly blushed bright, which really combined well with his white hair. "Sh-Sh-SHUT UP!!" he retorted, looking defensively. "I'm not doing anything wrong! I just wanna make friends with one of my favorite pokémon!" He grinned. "I bet he could learn Hydro Pump someday, or Surf, or Water Pulse..." He sighed in pleasure. "Oh, man, the memories of pwning the competition...Ah, Crystal..."

Suzu anime fell. "You only like him because he's a party standby...?" she grumbled on the floor before weakly standing up. "Oh, come ON..."

Kioshi walked back in and noticed the two talking and Suzu standing up. Curious look on his face, he asked, "What's going on here?"

Suzu and Hibiki chuckled and shook their heads. "Nothing, nothing," Suzu said, repeating the world's most obvious lie.

"Just talking," Hibiki half-truthed.

Kioshi raised an eyebrow, but shook his head, long black hair swinging about. "Well, we should get some food. Nurse Joy said that they'll be fed while she's treating their wounds, so we don't have to worry about feeding them. She said that we'll have to stay here for a bit because they've been diagnosed with fatigue-caused damage; they have to rest for a bit. She won't let me battle with them, and she, for some reason, doesn't trust that I'm not going to battle with them from as soon as I leave here to the time when she says that they should be fit as a fiddle again." He sighed, shaking his head again. "I almost wish sometimes that we didn't have to battle everyone that we meet," he muttered. "But...then, well, I wouldn't have Dragonair..." He looked up and smiled. "She's really nice, you know? And it's just...different to have a friend who's not human being so smart like that..."

"It's different with pokémon," Hibiki built off his statement, smiling. "They're intelligent creatures with the power to conquer the world if they wanted to. It's just that they're also animals, and so they don't really give a damn about world domination--they just want to survive. The main part, though, is that when they're humans' friends, they'r like pets with major firepower." He paused a moment to think, then chuckled. "Well, if you ignore magikarp before they're able to learn Tackle and Flail," he added. This got a bit of a laugh from the other two, since everyone knows how magicarp is the epitome of weakness in Pokémon.

Kioshi sighed, putting his arms behind his head. "We should get going," he said, "so we can eat or something. I'm starving."

The other two agreed, and they all went to the cafeteria. Kioshi was a little off in another world, though. He silently ate his beef stew, lost in thought. 'I can't believe it...' He chewed slowly. 'We're going to be leaving this place soon. As soon as we reach the Agents and find a way out with them, I know...' He glanced towards the lobby. 'I'm never going to get to be around Dragonair again...heck, around ANY pokémon...What'll she do without me? I mean...she's got a crush on me...' He looked back at his food. 'But I'm a real person sitting here and eating cartoon beef stew. She's a cartoon who would have to sit and eat...well, real food, since there isn't any pokémon food in our world...' He resisted a depressed sigh. 'I'm going to miss her...but I'm more worried about her missing me...' He resisted shaking his head, this time. 'But she's a pokémon. She's tough. And if those flames meant anything, it means that.'

It took him a few seconds before a thought occured to him. '...That...could it...? They were so like Doumeki-sama's...naw...a pokémon?...'

--

They slept the night and woke next morning, sat around all day, and ate in the evening. Life staying at the Center was pretty dull, seeing as nobody brought anything to do, really. All they could do was sit and watch tv. It was pretty weird, to them, since they were watching tv while ON tv. It's like if they were playing a video game while in a video game, acting while in a movie, or drawing manga while being read in Shonen Jump. Or, perhaps, writing a story while in one themselves. Although, truth be told, who knows--maybe we're all doing that, all us fanfiction and fiction writers...we're writing while within someone else's story...scary thought, huh? That we're all just characters in a story...Kioshi thought about this, too--being nothing but characters. 'But...is that okay or not? I mean, what if, if I AM just a character, not fully developed? I'd be incomplete...I'd be less than a real person in my world...' While he thought this, sitting on a couch and watching tv, he glanced around at everyone. 'All of these people here...are they just extras?' He pondered a moment, then sighed, shaking his head. "I've GOT to go do something," he muttered to himself, getting up.

He went out into the lobby to see if anyone was there. Nobody but a kid with an open flannel over a t-shirt, hunched over and playing DS. It sounded like Castlevania, specifically Portriat of Ruin by the sounds of the voices and music. 'Damn, wish I'd remembered to grab my own DS before jumping through that portal,' he thought. It then occured to him that that would probably be something big, seeing as he was in a Nintendo world to begin with. 'But, then, Trace Memory--wait, that wasn't a REAL DS...' He wondered what having a DS in a Nintendo world would do before realizing he was getting on the same existential track as before. Shaking his head, he tried to find something in it to focus on.

He saw some kids outside running around. He saw one yell as he got touched, then the others ran away from him as he ran after them. 'Tag, you're it,' Kioshi thought, chuckling, before snapping his fingers. 'That's it!' He walked over to Nurse Joy, who was unoccupied. "Say, Nurse Joy?" he asked.

Nurse Joy smiled at him. "Yes?"

Kioshi crossed his arms. "Dragonair and her friends helped us out when we were ambushed by a trio of brothers calling themselves Tag, Yer, and It. They all look the same, except they're different sizes, shortest to tallest in the order of the English phrase. I was battling Tag, then Suzu and Hibiki, my friends, got grabbed by Yer and It, respectively, and while I'd turned to look, Tag...well, tagged me. Tackled me, really. They then sent a small army of Bug-types after Teddiursa and who were then Dratini and Totodile. I then got knocked out, and I take it it all snowballed from there," he explained.

Nurse Joy raised her eyebrows at first, then looked like she was trying to remember something while listening at the same time, and then she looked serious as she nodded at the details of the grabbing, the Bug-types, and the knocking out. "Yes," she said, "we've heard of those three brothers quite a lot, lately. You're lucky that your pokémon friends helped you out. You might have been stripped of them and your possessions, all of which would have been sold online or even on the black market."

Kioshi raised his eyebrows. "There's a black market in this world?" he said before he realized it. He clamped his mouth shut, then said, "Er, I mean, in Kanto? A black market in Kanto?"

Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow at this, but dismissed it. "Yeah, there is, sadly," she said, looking sorry. "But we really don't have to worry about it that much." She sighed and shook her head. "You should be on the lookout for those three, since they're big troublemakers. Did you turn them in at all?" she asked.

Kioshi shook his head. "No--the way Dragonair and the other two glared at them..." He chuckled. "It was punishment enough, I think. I don't know if they're gonna do that kinda thing again anytime soon, but I know I wouldn't!" He laughed.

Joy smiled a little. "Well, I hope they learn soon," she said. "They're only 10, 11, and 12, respectively. They ought to know better by now."

Kioshi nodded. "Yeah, I know. But, so, we're not the only ones who got ambushed by them?" he asked.

"Nope, so don't feel left out."

Kioshi nodded again and thought for a moment. "Say...you wouldn't believe me if I told you that I could sense people's spirits, would you?" he ventured to ask slowly.

Joy raised her eyebrows at this, but didn't seem too set off balance. "Errm...well, seeing as I've met more than one psychic in my career, I think I might," she said. "How come?"

Kioshi frowned. "Well, me, Suzu, and Hibiki all, actually, have this ability, and we all could sense them approaching quite well," he said.

Joy tilted her head. "Then why didn't you do anything if you knew that they were going to attack?" she asked. "Like, run for help or something?"

Kioshi held up his index finger. "One: I was in the middle of a trainer battle, and I never run from trainer battles. It's a matter of honor." He held up the middle (on the same hand) as well. "Two, and the most important: We sensed them a lot later than normal. We could feel them, but we felt like they were not very close at all. In fact, when they came, Hibiki and Suzu say, it felt like they were twenty feet away, not zero. How do you think this could be explained?" he asked.

Joy crossed her arms, furrowing her brow. "Wow...they're psychic-proof, now?" she muttered. "This isn't good...I don't know for sure, exactly, but they might have something with them that throws their spiritual position in some certain spot parallel to them--it sounds like this case calls for twenty feet..."

"Suzu and Hibiki got grabbed from the east," Kioshi said, "because they were grabbed from behind and they were facing the setting sun."

"...east, then," Joy continued, "parallel to where they are. I've never heard of anything like this...except in, like, ninja movies." She shrugged and held up her arms, a sorry look on her face again. "I don't know what to say, I'm sorry," she said. "I'll report this to someone as soon as I can, but I'll be sure to take it seriously. If they can fool psychics, they might be able to fool Psychic-types, which we've advised for people to have out while walking along the path from the northeast, where I presume you came...?"

Kioshi nodded. "Yes. We were on our way from a little detour that Hibiki accidentially gave us while travelling from Cerulean to Vermillion."

Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you just take the underground path?" she asked. "It goes from Cerulean to Vermillion, and makes life a lot easier. You could easilly get between the two cities in one day."

Kioshi blinked a few times, then anime fell. "Oh, you're KIDDING me..."

Nurse Joy leaned over the counter to look at Kioshi. "What's wrong?" she asked, sweatdropping.

Hibiki's laugh could be heard in the direction of the tv room, and Nurse Joy looked over at him. He was standing with his arms crossed and a triumphant smile on his visage. "See?" he asked Kioshi, looking down at him while he just lay there, looking up with a look of "You've gotta be kidding me" on his face. "I TOLD you that it was there! Just like the games!" He laughed victoriously.

Kioshi sighed, getting up and brushing himself off. "Yeah, but it's a moot point right now, so I wouldn't be laughing," he mumbled loud enough for his teammate to hear. "It isn't that much of a victory."

Hibiki stopped laughing and pouted. "Killjoy," he muttered, turning back to the tv room, but not unhappily.

Kioshi sighed and gave an embarressed smile to Nurse Joy. "Well, sorry about that, it's just a silly little thing," he said. He then bowed. "Thank you for the information."

Nurse Joy smiled. "No problem! Helping trainers is my job, after all!" she reasoned. "And it was my pleasure. Oh, and trust me, we get strange situations all the time," she added, almost sweatdropping as she waved a hand dismissively.

Kioshi nodded and bade farewell, then travelled to the tv room. 'I wonder what this all means...blocking our ability to detect spiritual fire on our own...not good, if I do say so myself...'

--

Hmmm...Existientiality...I think I smell a new theme for original stories here...Sure, it's been done a lot, but how much has breaking the fourth wall (minorly) been integrated into it? Heh...I wonder how far this'll go...


	21. Life is Beautiful

(21)( ) (America's) (Greatest) (Product)

Kioshi, Suzu, and Hibiki were finishing up their supper when Nurse Joy came over to them with Dragonair, Croconaw, and Teddiursa in tow. "Kioshi?" she asked, and the black-haired Ouendan looked up to her kind face. "Your pokémon friends are all rested up and ready for anything again!" she proudly announced.

Kioshi wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled. "Aaah, that's great! Thank you very much, Nurse Joy!" he thanked, bowing as best he could from his seat.

Nurse Joy smiled at him. "It was our pleasure! Just take good care of them, hmm?" she asked.

"We will, Nurse Joy," Hibiki promised.

"Thank you again!" said Suzu.

Nurse Joy nodded. "You're welcome! Sorry for intruding on your meal, but Dragonair seemed quite eager to come and see her friends again," she apologized, looking over to the long Dragon-type.

Kioshi blushed while the other two sweatdropped as Dragonair came over and gave a quick nuzzle to Kioshi's shoulder. "Eh-heh, thanks, and that's not a problem," he assured her. "I was eager to see them safe again, myself..." He gave a nervous chuckle to Dragonair while hoping his eyes were giving the message, "Watch it," clearly to her. Thankfully, she got it.

Nurse Joy smiled and waved her hand dismissingly again. "Oh, it's alright and wonderful to see a pokémon have such a strong bond with her trainer," she commented. "It means that life's good between them."

Kioshi nodded, smiling. "Well, thank you again, Nurse Joy!" he said.

"You're welcome! And enjoy your meal!" she bade, and left for the front desk again.

Kioshi sighed in relief when she left. "Phew...Well, it's good to see you guys are all alright again," he said, patting Dragonair on the head and looking at the others, smiling. "So, ready to get going in the morning?"

The three pokémon made sounds of "Yes" answers.

Kioshi breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew! Good, I was getting bored outta my skull here!" he said, and the others laughed.

After dinner, the six of them were about to go and do stuff before going to bed--Hibiki was going to go watch TV, Suzu was going to go and read a book she had bought yesterday from a handy little shop attatched to the Center, and Kioshi was going to go find someplace to play with Dragonair and see what new things she and the other two had learned. Croconaw and Teddiursa were going to go with Dragonair.

Then, out of nowhere, the three Ouendan felt someone's spirit, somewhere in the city, was starting to flicker with negativity and getting into the danger zone. They ran into the lobby together, nodded to each other, and took off. Dragonair was now, to Joy's amazement when she confusedly saw them bolting, able to slither fast enough to keep up, but Croconaw and Teddiursa needed to be carried. Hibiki carried Croconaw and Suzu Teddiursa.

--

It was a nice night outside an apartment building inside the city. Not too hot, not too cool. Inside, though on the first floor, though, things were scorching. Arguing could be heard from the outside.

"I still can NOT believe that you came THIS close to getting caught!!" cried a young woman's voice.

"We almost had them!" said a familiar, young, male voice. "Those lucky pendants that creepy guy sold us worked! They didn't even suspect us! It was just that guy's pokémon..."

(The Ouendan stood outside the window, but to the sides of it. They didn't dare look inside, but they were utterly curious, now, about what was going on.)

"It was OUR fault because we didn't train properly!" argued another boy, again familiar.

"No, those things didn't work at all!" cried a third voice, this one frighteningly familiar. "THAT'S the problem!"

In fact, Kioshi found it unmistakible. He was about to whip his head to look in when Dragonair, using her tail, grabbed his head and held it.

The girl's voice sighed, and she stepped over to the window. The Ouendan ducked as she came out to the window to take a breath of fresh air.

(Bito Kagome, 17.8, guardian of three boys)

She had medium, straight, normal-cut brown hair, a pair of small glasses, a gold-colored short vest, and that was over a white v-neck t-shirt with a picture of a purugly(? Evolution of Delcatty), over which the words "PET ME, I DARE YOU" blazed red in English block letters. She wore no jewelry, but she had on red lipstick. She breathed in some air through her small nose, which was attatched to a green-eyed, sad face. "You guys shouldn't even DO this, you know," she grumbled.

"Yeah? Well, tell us what we CAN do!" said the first boy.

"Something FUN!" said the third.

"And something profitable, preferably," said the second.

She grumped and turned around. "How about actually putting those trainers' licences to good use for once instead of using them to be a bunch of bandits?!" she asked testilly. "You guys are GREAT trainers! You've gotten all of your pokémon to their highest stage, and they all obey your orders, despite the fact that I'm sure they know that you're not being very nice to people!"

"Yeah, yeah, but trainers are so...so STUPID!!" said the third boy. "They're all like, 'Oooh, I wanna be a Pokémon Master, so I'm gonna go all over heck and creation to end up losing in the preliminary rounds of the League!!'"

Kagome blushed. "Oh...Sh-Shut up!" she stuttered.

"Then who are YOU to tell us that we shoud do something that ended you up with failure?" asked the first boy.

"And besides, there's no money in being a trainer!" complianed the second. "How will we survive?"

"Trainers get by. If you manage to beat another trainer, remember that when you do, your trainer's account gets half the money of the loser's account, and everyone starts out with a good amount..." She growled and crossed her arms. "...as you guys found your first days."

"Hey! That circus was AWESOME!" protested boy three. "It was SO worth it!"

"Yeah! I mean, it's not every day that you see a professional get stomped on by the rhyhorn he was riding! That was HILARIOUS!" laughed boy one.

"But that's basically it, Kagome," said the second boy. "That was it. We battled people, we lost. We got tired of camping. We got homesick. And we don't really WANT to be trainers if we have to LOSE so much!"

"And there aren't many trainers who are loaded with dough, so what's the point in going for chump change?" asked the first.

"And, Kagome, it's the only thing we're good at. We can fight pretty good ourselves and we're good at sneaking up on people. Trainers don't do that. They just walk all over the place for no good reason but to lose and get tired and have to camp out all the time and get attacked by mosquitoes!" The third boy grumped. "We'd rather stay here!"

"Then go to school!" Kagome said.

"""NO!!""" The reaction was so powerful, Kagome was nearly blown outside the window. "You can't stop us from doing what we want, Kagome," said the third boy. "We learn to get by in life our own way, and if people can trust their ten-year-olds to go and fend for themselves as trainers, I don't see why we can't be bandits. It's so much more fun, and more profitable, and so many other things! Besides..." Sounds of a few footsteps, and the Ouendan cramped under the window again as the boy stuck his head out. "There's nothing else to life for us. This is the only thing that's really fun."

Kioshi surpressed a gasp.

Standing above him was Tag.

'What the...?! Are we...Are we gonna cheer HIM?!'

He had to grab Dragonair's mouth and hold her before she did something rash, since he could tell she wasn't happy, either.

Tag sighed, standing next to Kagome. Kagome looked down, a dull look on her face. "Tag...No, Takishi...listen..."

Tag, or Takishi, whipped his head to look at Kagome. "Call me 'Tag!' 'Takishi' sounds stupid!"

"Yusuke, Itachi, you listen, too," Kagome continued.

"It's 'Yer!'" corrected boy one.

"And it's just 'It!'" corrected boy two.

Ignoring them, she just looked down. "You guys are so talented...you've got something good in store for you in life. If only you could all see that...!" She clenched a fist. "Your mother didn't trust you in my care while she was away for so many years just to let you guys become crooks!!" She whipped her head up and looked at them with eyes threatening crying. "I'm trying to help you! I know a heck of a lot better than you all do about what life is! And I know that you're way too young to be criminals! Do you have any idea how awful it is to be under thirteen years old and already have a hell of a criminal record?!"

But the three just looked away, or at least Takishi did. "Same old, same old," he grumbled.

"Yeah," Yusuke agreed.

"Still no idea what goes on in kids' minds these days," Itachi sighed. "So, then, about next time..."

Kagome growled and slammed the side of her fist on the wall below the window. "Do you guys ever TRY to listen for once?!" she asked incredulously.

Takishi moved away from the window, shrugging. "We don't do good at listening, Kag," he said. "That's why we don't do good at school. The only people we listen to are those we respect, and, quite frankly, you're not one of them."

Kagome's head fell. "Then how do I EARN your respect?" she asked faintly.

"""BACK IT UP!!""" they shouted annoyedly. "Sheesh, it's not that hard!" Takishi mumbled.

Kagome furrowed her brow. "But...How...?" she whispered. "I...I can't..." She turned away. "I can't do anything right, either..."

The three were ignoring her and were talking about their next heist. "Okay, then, why don't we try it again tomorrow, and this time..." was audible before the three moved out of the room.

Kagome squeaked and stood up straight. "They're doing it tomorrow?! AGAIN?!" she cried. "Oh, no...I have to stop them!! But...they won't listen to me...Wait..." She walked over to a shelf and picked up three pokéballs. "Actions speak louder than words...But...can I...How...Mmmmm?" She was at a loss.

Just then, the Ouendan began to just stand around, acting like they were doing nothing more than stop for a rest. The reason was because they didn't want to look like stalkers in front of the Officer Jenny that walked by. "Yeah," she said in her walkie-talkie after being called. "What's up?"

"Officer? Well, we've got reason to suspect that Tag, Yer, and It are going to try again, tomorrow."

Kagome froze solid.

"Reason being...?"

"The bug we planted in their house picked up part of their conversation."

"Their...Hey, I'm right next to it!" Officer Jenny muttered, glancing to her right. She immediately turned the dial down on her walkie-talkie and began speaking quietly. This still didn't drown out her next words: "Good. We'll finally get them this time. Their pokémon must be weakened still from that fight that..."

("...kid's pokémon gave them..." was the part the Ouendan, but not Kagome, heard.)

Kagome twitched an eye. "They're...going to be put in jail...tomorrow...?" she asked softly. "But...I...I...No...Their mother...She trusted me with their lives..." She looked at the calender and nearly melted. "AND SHE'S COMING BACK TOMORROW?!" she cried in disbelief, jaw open in shock. She had an image of the mother as she normally was: Long, wavy black hair, blue eyes, a small nose, and usually in a pretty floral-print dress with a golden necklace.

It was too much. The boys not listening and being listless in terms of what life has for them...the planned sneak-arrest tomorrow...the reaction that their mother would have! 'Not only would she KILL me...and I'll feel horrible...I could be put in jail, myself, for not being a responsible guardian!!' she thought.

She shook. She trembled. She held one of the balls tightly as she slowly started.

"O...O..."

Then, whipping her head to the sky and crying out, she cried with all her heart and soul,

**"OOUEEEENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!"**

--

When Officer Jenny had moved away, Kioshi and the others looked at each other in amazement. "I never knew that they had such a hard life," Kioshi muttered.

"Heck, that poor girl's got a worse-off life than they do," commented Hibiki.

"But...I feel kinda angry that we've got to help, even inderectly, the people who ambushed us yesterday," Suzu muttered.

Kioshi nodded. "I know," he said. He lowered his voice "And I know, they deserve to be arrested..." He spoke normally again. "...But I know that, if she can pull it off, then she can save those boys from a horrible fate..." He looked to Dragonair. "I know, you don't like Tag, or Takishi, but...we've got to do this, Dragonair," he said firmly. "That's what Ouendan do. We help people, no matter what, if their goals are to do something positive against all odds. We'd never help them try to escape, or something, if there wasn't something good at the end for everyone. But sometimes...it's a bit grey, like now. We have to do it."

Dragonair, who was growling a bit after the three boys had left the room, settled down, though still wasn't impressed yet. 'Alright, Kioshi...I trust you, but still...'

There were a few seconds before they all nodded together. "What song, then?" asked Suzu. "We need something strong...something that'll help her..."

"Something serious, maybe?" Hibiki suggested.

Kioshi shook his head. "I think I know the perfect song," he said. "Life is Beautiful."

Suzu gasped. "That American song?! That's emo!! That's not gonna--"

"No, it's not that one," Kioshi said, smirking. "But you're right that it IS American..."

The Morning City members raised their eyebrows before looking at each other as Kagome screamed.

-:-:-

(-)1...2...1, 2...Mm-mmm...

(-)Yeah, ladies and gentlemen

(-)Y'know we came through that door

(-)m-flo

(-)Toku, the son-a Jazz (Ha!)

(-)And the lady that needs no introduction

(-)DOUBLE (Ayyyyye...)

(-)And this is how we gon' set it tonight

(-)Check it, yow:

The three Ouendan were right there when the music began, so all they had to do was do their responding "OSU!" at the start of the stage. However, this time, before they did, Kioshi talked to Dragonair and the others quickly. "Okay, I want you all to come with this time," he said. "This way, you don't risk getting captured. Besides..." He looked at Dragonair. "...I want you to watch. You'll see if things turn out..."

Dragonair almost burst with joy. 'I get to watch him cheer up close?! AWESOME!!'

"But stay out of the way and just watch. Like, a few feet from us--we can't risk you getting in the way, sorry," Kioshi added.

Dragonair hung her head. 'But of course...I'm regretting evolution right about now...then I could just hang onto his leg like I used to...Wait, then I wouldn't get much of a view...'

It was getting late in the introduction, now, and so the three did their beginning "OSU!" and the cheer began.

**-:-:-There's More to Life!! Will They Listen for Once?-:-:-**

(-)You know the beat-down is critical, whenever tricks

(-)Played by the devil make me cynical, think of the opposites

(-)Tell me, would you rather pack a briefcase and paperchase or

(-)Throw down stacks in Vegas?

(-)Outrageous livin' everyday is blazin' hot & large

(-)Smother you with all the latest exaggerations

(-)Sedated, inebriated soul charged with emotions

(-)Take a swig of this to see the universe frozen, mmm...I like that!

Oblivious to the music right now, Kagome, a bit after the first "OSU!" of the "stage", heard a door slam and gasped. "They're going outside?" she asked, and looked out the window again (the Ouendan ducking out of the way while waiting for the right time to "OSU!!" her). Indeed, the trio was walking out.

"We've gotta get some sort of practice in," said Yusuke.

"Maybe at the park?" suggested Itachi. They turned down the sidewalk and out of sight.

Kagome whined. "I've got to stop them before it's too late!" she cried. Grabbing the three pokéballs, she raced outside. She got out a while later and ran after them. "WAIT, GUYS!!" she called. The three didn't turn. She growled and raced after them to the park.

At the park, they began to train with their pokémon. All around them, other trainers trained, as well. Kagome reached them and called again. "GUYS!!"

They looked up, then back down again to their training and practicing their maneuvers. They were practicing the "wall of pokémon" that Dragonair and the other two had experienced before.

Kagome growled again. "Why...I know!" She grinned and looked around. "HEY!! ANYONE WANNA BATTLE ME?!" she called out.

At THIS, many heads--including Takishi's, Yusuke's, and Itachi's--turned to her. One young man came over to her, smiling. "Heck, yeah! I've been waiting all day!"

Kagome grinned. "Thanks!" She stood back on the patch of grass and released her first pokémon. "Okay, Sakura!! Let's get 'im!!" she called, and out came a jigglypuff.

The guy grinned and said, "Let's CRUSH 'em, Hercules!!" And out came a Machamp.

Kagome just froze, eyes completely white in shock, and twitched.

At this point, the LONG introduction had about finished, and the first planned cheering segment was about to begin. Thus, Kagome's seemingly late cheer squad came in.

"""OSU!!"""

Instantly, fire erupted around Kagome and in her eyes as she determinedly raised a fist. Even the purugly on her shirt had blazing eyes and a raised, clenched fist. "GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The three skidded in, and Kioshi's pokémon stood from the sidelines to watch. """IKUZE?!...SAN! NI! ICHI!! SURE!!"""

-11AM nesugoshita shuu no hajimari

-Douryou ni 1 CALL

-Sorry I'll be late, but I'll be there as soon as possible

-Anata kara no chakushin wa nai kedo

-Kamawazu shitaku & dasshu shita

-You know she came through that door like she said it before

-We livin' astro

As m-flo (featuring DOUBLE and Toku)'s "Life is Beautiful" began with its strong Jazz flavor instantly feeling its way into the soul of everyone who could hear it, Kagome began battling her opponent. At first, she was a bit underconfident, since she was out of practice, as was Sakura the jigglypuff, and they were doing only moderate, facing a standoff. The criminal child trio was only half-watching. Then, in a sudden dip in drive caused her to panic and Sakura to start getting beaten around by Hercules like a pink volleyball, eyes (circular) spirals. The boys snubbed her and looked back at their own practice. Seeing this, Kagome got back on track and her drive to save them boosted her energy and confidence. She was commanding with ferver and Jigglypuff was giving it to Hercules, this time, with a flurry of strong Pound attacks.

"Sakura!" cried Kagome, pointing at Hercules. "Use Sing!"

Sakura took a deep breath.

"Hercules! Cover your ears with one set of arms and use Seismic Toss with the other!" commanded the other trainer, grinning.

Hercules did so, and approached Sakura at frightening speed.

Kagome spazzed a little, but got back into it. "QUICK! Dodge it!!" she cried.

Sakura leapt in the air, using her puffed-up body to float a la Super Smash Bros.

"Now! Uh...Aerial Ace!!" Kagome commanded. 'Oh, please let her remember that move we worked so hard on...two years ago...'

Sakura let out the air in her like the balloon she was and zipped through the air at an amazing rate, zigzagging until, after a second, slamming into Hercules with a jigglypuff version of Aerial Ace.

Hercules stumbled back and finally fell down, eyes spirally (squarishly, like normal knockout spirals). His trainer looked at him with shock on his face. "H...HERCULES!!" he cried in dismay.

Kagome grinned and high-fived Sakura. "Great job, Sakura!" she praised.

"JIG-LY!!" agreed Sakura proudly.

The boys gawked at her. "You...He...But...WHAT?!" Itachi stuttered. His mouth then quivered for a moment, then he just burst out, "YOU BEAT A MACHAMP WITH A MEASLY JIGGLYPUFF!! I DON'T CARE IF THAT WAS A FLUKE OR NOT, THAT WAS AWESOME!!" He laughed and trotted over, patting her on the shoulder. "Kagome, you've got my respect, you know?" he said. "Underdogs RULE!"

Kagome gasped, smiling. "Really?! THANK you!!" she cried, nearly actually doing so.

**--(O)--**

(-)Iki kirashite kakeoriru to hora

(-)TICK-TACK-TOE wasuremono

(-)Toorisugari no inu made mo

(-)BOW-WOW-WOW!

(-)What a day?! (Man, what a day)

(-)Sore ga jinsei

Takishi still ignored her, it seemed, and they all seemed a bit needful of more convincing. Itachi, because he didn't feel much like betraying his brothers, played along. "Alright, we've got to find out who's got the most money coming along," Takishi was saying.

Kagome growled and clenched a fist. 'I don't know if beating another trainer would do enough,' she thought. 'What shall I do? What else do I need to back up?' She crossed her arms and thought. 'There are quite a few chances to make a profit when being a trainer...but not enough to show them out here. But honorable work is another thing I want them to realize is good, even if they can't get real jobs yet...Wait, it's the middle of the night, how can I find anything--'

"Augh!" cried a man in a construction suit as he trudged along the park path. "So many lights to change...So bored..." He yawned.

Kagome looked at the man, raising her eyebrows, and ran to him. "Could I help?" she asked.

The man brightened up. "Would you?" he asked. "Someone needs to change all these lights with some more energy-efficient ones, but I'm too bored to go on anymore without losing my mind...I'd be willing to pay you what I'd earn for going on, honestly!" he promised. "It'd be the least I could do...that is, if you can do it quickly and well..."

Kagome grinned. "Aw, what's so hard about changing some light bulbs?" she asked. She took the bag of new lights and the bag of old. "I'd be glad to help out!"

The man smiled. "Good! I'll just take a nap here on this bench while you finish up with all the lights here!" he said, pointing to a bench before motioning to the HUGE expanse of paths lined with lights for her to change. She sweatdropped at the prospect of the job and the fact she'd have to finish at lightning speed to make sure that she kept the interest of the boys.

'I'm never going to finish this in time...' she thought hopelessly.

"""OSU!!"""

-Yama ari tani ari, demo

-Onaji kazu dake no hareru hi mo aru kara

-I don't wanna be blue (never wanna be blue)

-Jumon wo tonaeru mune ni tsubuyaku

-Nani wa tomo are just life is...something like that

At first, she was going along at lightning speed, galvanized by the initial "OSU!!". She was unscrewing the old bulbs so fast they flew up into the air out of their sockets out of sight. During this time, she quickly screwed in the new bulb, just in time to catch the old one with her other hand and put it in the old bulb bag. Then, she would dash to the other one. The whole process would take about three seconds. She occasionally passed by the boys, who were staring at her speed. Then, she got a little tired and was only trotting along, unscrewing them normally, putting them in the bag, then taking out the new ones and putting them in before moving on. She moved slow, but determinedly. When she passed by the boys, they only glanced at her, unimpressed. Then, thinking she needed to pick up the speed, Kagome started going a bit too fast--she ended up fumbling with the old bulb and dropping it, thus having to stop and sweep up the debris. The boys were laughing at the sad thought of her messing up changing a light bulb. Then, after that brief moment of panic she had gone through, she got back on track like she had been. Just before the last one, though, she took it a bit slow again.

At last, she came over to the man sleeping on the bench again. "Excuse me, mister electrician?" she asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

The guy yawned and stretched. "Yeah?" he asked sleepilly.

Kagome spread her arm out and motioned to the bright, beautifully-lit park. "Got 'em all!" she said.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow! Look at them all! So bright!" He grinned and stood up, shaking her hand. "Alright, then..." He looked at his watch. "Wow! I'm sorry, but you're only getting a quarter of what I'd be getting paid by the hour...still a heck of a lot shorter time than I would have done." He fished into his pocket and withdrew a small wad of cash, then gave it to her in exchange for the bag of old bulbs. "Thanks a bundle! I thought the tedium was going to kill me!" he laughed.

Kagome smiled and nodded. "It was my pleasure to help someone in need!" she said, and they left.

As she came over to the three boys, she showed them the cash. "See?" she said. "You don't need to steal your money--heck, why worry about getting caught stealing when you can work for it honestly and feel proud that you actually earned it?"

This time, it was Yusuke who was amazed at the turn of events. "Wow! That's all from when you just helped that guy out?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yep! And even if he didn't pay actual money, he'd most likely have paid me back in the equivalent SOMEhow, and a lot of things are better than just money--like a free lunch or something," she suggested.

Yusuke's eyes bulged and he licked his lips at this. "I can get a free lunch if I work for people?!" he asked.

"You just might!" Kagome winked. "And don't forget, trainers earn money, too, by battling!"

Yusuke was still thinking about the good food he could have. "Mmmmm...fried delights...ice cream...ramen..." he mumbled. "And all I'd have to do is NOT risk getting thrown into juvie?! I'm SO there!!" He pumped his arm in excitement.

Kagome sigh-smiled, holding her hands up. 'The best way to get to a man is through his stomach,' she repeated the adage to herself.

**--(O)--**

(-)I float in space watch you walkin' through the Golden Gate

(-)The phase that I pass is like a glitch, how can I miss that?

(-)The risk factor is astronomical

(-)Sound effects spark imaginations, every syllable

(-)Is crisp and clear, once upon a time I felt like God was light years away

(-)But He said, "FEAR NO MAN," then my eyes opened

(-)Forget the lies of decieving mouthes and rise from the dark to see the light

(-)Beautiful in the eyes of the beholder

(-)I wrote a thousand letters, signed and delivered, but I can't find the

(-)Right words to describe this vibe

(-)Looking at my Francks' it's about that time

(-)Hey yo, think about it for a sec, it ain't hard ot see

(-)We-dress-to-kill...

(-)Live from the city that don't know how to sleep

(-)Tell me how-you-feel

(-)Ooh...I'm all shook up!

Kagome sighed as the boys began to talk again about the heist, regardless of what had just happened. The two big brothers were still playing along with Takishi, oddly. 'What else is making them feel so bad?' she thought. She snapped her fingers. 'Wait! That's it! I've just got to find someone to battle with them!' She thought for a moment on that, but then whined in defeat. 'But they wouldn't want to battle, anyway,' she pointed out to herself. 'Awwww...I need some expert help! Where could I find some...?'

"HEY! Come--back--here--you--stupid--Bug-type!!"

Kagome turned her head to look and gasped as she saw, swinging a big net at a wild dustox(pretty rare in the Kanto reigion), of all people to enter the city--'Bugsy! The Gym Leader of...uh...Azelea? No, that's Falkner...Ummm...Oh, the town's not important!' she thought, shaking her head. 'This is extraordinary luck! If I can get to him and convince him to help me out...' She trotted over to the Gym Leader. "Excuse me! Mister Bugsy?" she asked.

Bugsy looked over at her as he heard his name called (well, his Japanese name, of course). He went, "Huh?" before colliding with a tree, snapping the net in two.

Kagome gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry!" she cried, trotting over to help. "I should have paid more attention to where you were going before I called over..."

Bugsy shook his fist as he got up. "Oh, I'm fine," he said, ignoring the bump on the side of his head. Then, exploding and spreading his body out in the angrily-yelling-anime-character position, he roared, "BUT I LOST THAT GREAT DUSTOX!!"

Kagome sweatdropped. "Uuuuuh...then I probably shouldn't be asking for some help with some trainers I know...?" she asked nervously.

Bugsy thrust the quickly-repaired bug net at her. "I didn't work all night for nothin'!! If you want me to help, ya gotta pay me back!" he told her.

Kagome pulled her mouth open into a teeth-gritting frown, pulling the corners down--the "yeek" face. "Oh, dear...I'm not good at catching Bug-types..." 'At least I don't have to use an empty pokéball, which I don't have...'

"""OSU!!"""

-Iki aisugite surechigaezu hora

-ZIG-ZAG to tango suteppu no you (Y'like that, ch'all?)

-Toorisugiru toki ni uniki

-Wakuwakuwaku ((Sounds like "WauWauWau!!"))

-What a day?!

-What a good day?!

-Yama ari tani mo aru

-Demo onaji kazu dake no hareru hi mo aru kara

-I don't wanna be blue (never be blue)

-Jumon wo tonaeru (mune ni tsubuyaku)

-Nani wa tomo are just life is beautiful

At first, Kagome was chasing the dustox, jogging along and waving the net and making just as much progress as Bugsy--not much. Then, she was sweaty, panting and plodding slowly, waving the net pathetically while the dustox, jeering, fluttered just in her reach before zigging away at the last second out of the way of the net. However, a burst of energy from her desire to have Bugsy help out the boys drove her to first get back on track the way she was, then speed it up. When she sped it up, she was swinging the net like crazy, running at full speed, and -barely- missing the moth pokémon, who was frantically trying to avoid capture.

Bugsy was walking, trying to locate Kagome. "I think maybe I exploded on her a bit too harsh," he was mumbling. "But still, she shouldn't've gone and called me when I was obviously busy..." He grumped. "Where is she? I at least want to see how she's doing..." He went, "Ah!" as he found her running towards him, the dustox just in front of her. "Woah!" he cried, stuck in a spot where he couldn't move away to the side quickly, since he was between two thick trees. He didn't know how far she'd jump, either, so stepping back wouldn't be good, either.

Kagome wasn't paying attention to where SHE was going, either. Bursting with energy, she jumped up, net back and ready to strike, sort of like Link doing a Jump Attack. "I'VE GOT YOU NOW, STUPID MOTH!!" she cried, and down came the net.

THWWAP!!

Kagome looked up after landing, net still down on the ground. "Did I get it?" she asked, looking at her catch. There, inside the net (which was a perilous two inches from Bugsy), was the dustox, making noises of unhappiness that it had lost the chase, it sounded like, more than the fact that it had been captured at all. Kagome grinned and pumped one arm for joy. "GOTCHA!!" she crowed triumphantly.

Bugsy clapped his hands. "Well done, miss! Thank you!" he said. As he took the Bug-type, he added, "You'd make a great Bug Catcher. Want to move to my Gym and train as one of the best?" He was in a real chipper mood now.

Kagome sweatdropped and waved her hands. "No, that's alright!" 'I'm kinda not THAT fond of Bug-types, myself, anyway...'

Bugsy grinned. "But you have such great aim!" he complimented. 'Most people would have overshot and bagged ME, instead!'

**--(O)--**

(-)There ya have it

(-)Life is beautiful

(-)Y'know what I'm sayin?

(-)Toku! Tell it to 'em!

(-)Muted trumpet improv solo

Kagome talked to Bugsy about her problem. The Gym Leader nodded. "Mmmm," he went, closed eyes and crossed arms. "I see. I could try and convince them, if you want," he said. "I have nothing better to do before hittin' the sack, anyway."

Kagome smiled widely. "THANK you!" she said, bowing. "But...they don't listen to people they don't respect, and I dunno if they respect you...you'd have to DO something..." She gasped. "But, shoot! I just realized that beating them in a battle wouldn't be good, and neither would throwing the battle!" she squeaked.

Bugsy groaned. "Then what do I do?" he asked. "I was going to show them that they have good pokémon, but if they won't listen..."

Kagome thought wildly. "THINK, girl, THINK!" she muttered furiously, clenching her eyes shut and prodding her forehead.

Just then, all three of the boys came over, wide-eyed as they gazed at Bugsy. """WOAH!! BUGSY, THE BUG-TYPE GYM LEADER FROM JOHTO?!""" they exclaimed.

Bugsy smirked and nodded, fists on his hips. "You bet," he said.

They gazed at him with dazzling eyes and clenched fists at their sides. """AWESOOOOOME!"""

Kagome and Bugsy smiled at each other. "No worries on that, anymore, then, huh?" Kagome asked, chuckling.

Bugsy smiled. "Nope!" he answered. Then, addressing the three, he said, "Alright, boys, your guardian here, Kagome, has asked that I help you see that your pokémon are, indeed, great, as well as teach some other things."

At the mention that Kagome set this up, the three recoiled. """K-K-KAGOME?!""" After a split second, though, Yusuke and Itachi said, ""Who cares?! It'd be an honor!!""

"Yeah, really?" asked Takishi, crossing his arms and moving off to sulk.

Kagome fumed, then roared, "WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO EARN YOUR TRUST?!" after him.

Takishi stuck his tounge over his shoulder.

This was the last straw. Kagome, seething, jumped at him. "I guess I'll have to do it the way only a man could understand!!" she shouted as the two met and the scuffle began.

Yusuke held up a finger. "Ah, Kagome? Need we remind you that he's beaten black belts before?" he asked, sweatdropping as he looked over in the place Kagome was in.

'!!' thought Kagome as she heard this.

(The Ouendan raised their eyebrows to each other, but shrugged and went along with it, anyway, hoping that this didn't count as child abuse.)

"""OSU!!"""

-Days will pass

-Imagine, what if this day was your last?

-It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder, you know it makes me wanna...

-Sou ne

-We be swingin' to bring it to the minute so feel it, yo

-m-flo and we do it like this!

-Shu, shu-bee-doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-WAAAH!

At first, Kagome was going well for a brief moment, likely due to the jumping, but it was so brief, one couldn't get a good glimpse of what was going on before, a nanosecond later, she was getting pinned by the ten-year-old bandit. Crying in agony, she was on her stomach while Takishi sat on her back, grabbing her arms and a leg and bending them back painfully. Then, recovering from the lapse in focus she had, she flipped him off and the two were merely grappling with each other in the classic hands-clasped-body-braced position, each trying to throw the other down. At last, after a few seconds, Kagome was doing well again, assaulting the kid with a flurry of aggrivated slapping, like a human version of Double Slap with both hands, while he had to work and defend himself with his arms. Kagome managed to get a slap on his cheek once in a while, though.

The two were soon head to head again. "I've had ENOUGH!" Takishi said, and, with all his strength, did what every person on Earth has wanted to do at SOME point in their parent/guardian once or twice: He threw her down HARD. Then, he got on her back again, but this time, he was going to do something else. "Hiiii..." He held his hand up.

Kagome made a perfect "!" face at this. She knew exactly what he was going to do. 'Pressure point!'

"YAH!" cried Takishi, bringing his hand down in a chop.

Then, with amazing reflexes, Kagome grabbed the hand with both of hers and slammed him off her back, forwards and over her head, into the ground. She got up and crossed her arms, glaring. "Sorry, Takishi, but it was about time you got what was comin' to ya," she told him shortly.

Takishi got up and looked like he was going to cry, but he swallowed and looked determinedly up at her as he rose. A moment passed, and then, finally, he bowed his head, looking away, as he admitted, through gritted teeth, "You...have my respect..."

Kagome raised her eyebrows. "Really?" she asked, surprised.

"You beat me in the one form of battle I thought I could win at the most," Takishi said, looking up at her again and actually smirking. It was a sportsmanly smirk, though. "Hand-to-hand combat."

Kagome chuckled uneasilly and put her hand behind her head. "Thank goodness," she said, "but let's try to avoid this until you're older, 'cuz you don't know how many people could've just gotten me for something REAL bad just now..."

This caused the boys to laugh (and the Ouendan to mop their brows).

**--(O)--**

(-)Yama ari tani mo aru

(-)Demo onaji kazu dake no hareru hi mo aru kara

Once everyone had gathered around him, Bugsy addressed everyone. "Okay, then, boys," he said, "it's time for a practical lesson--" He brought out three pokéballs. "--so bring out your two best each and let 'em loose, 'cuz me and Kagome are gonna give you the biggest double battle in history!"

Kagome, standing next to her, looked shocked. "Wait, WHAT?!" she asked.

Bugsy grinned. "My three plus your three is six, those three have two each to be six, and so, then, us two each have one for going against both of each of their two!" he explained while Takishi got out Ledian and Scyther, Yusuke got out Heracross and Ariados, and Itachi got out Beedrill and Pinsir.

Kagome gave a bewildered smile. "O-Okay," she said shakilly, but in her mind, she said, 'I SO got lost there...And is she CRAZY?!'

Bugsy turned his face to the other three. "Alright, time for you to see how powerful your pokémon are, but know that we're not gonna hold back!" he warned.

Kagome, as if she was walking towards her own demise, got out her three pokéballs with TT-like face of squiggly waterfall tears.

(Kioshi looked to Suzu and Hibiki. All three nodded and turned back to their target.)

"""OSU!!"""

-I don't wanna be blue (never wanna be blue)

-Jumon wo tonaeru (mune ni tsubuyaku)

-Nani wa tomo are just life is just (what?!)

-Yama ari tani mo aru

-Demo onaji kazu dake no hareru hi mo aru kara

-I don't wanna be blue (never be blue)

-Jumon wo tonaeru mune ni tsubuyaku

-Aruite yuku

-I am gonna make it through! (Tell it to 'em, girl!)

-Nani wa tomo are just life--

-Is beautifuuuuuuuuullllllll...

At first, Kagome's courage became high enough from the """OSU!!""" that she was both commanding her three pokémon--Sakura the jigglypuff, but also Riku the cubone (named after his type(well, actually it's "earth" or "land")--REAL original) and Ki the oddish (again, REAL original since Ki means tree)--and handling the multi-tasking well. She was commanding left, right, and center, depending on who needed to be commanded. Bugsy was commanding well, too, but was visibly impressed by what Kagome was doing. The boys' pokémon were doing their best to follow orders, and the battle was very heated. Then, her energy faded and she was stuck barely catching each order issued by Takishi, Yusuke, or Itachi. She was looking a bit flustered, quickly darting each order, then waving her arms as she heard another command and had to change position to counter it. Bugsy was ignoring her behavior and commanding confidently, but at the same speed as his partner. The battle was at a stand-off. Then, losing some more focus for a second, Kagome was clutching her hair as she was wildly telling her pokémon to dodge, defend, anything to try and hang in there--the boys were gaining on her end of the battle--while Bugsy was giving her unimpressed looks. Thankfully, Kagome got back on top of the ball again and was doing what she was doing at first.

Finally, Bugsy shouted, "STOOOP!" and held his arms up. The two mini-armies stopped and backed up to their trainers, both sides panting hard. Bugsy grinned and looked at the three boys. "You guys see how powerful your pokémon are?" he asked. "And you're great trainers! You had us on our toes for a while! And during the times ours were hitting yours, your pokémon were exhibiting marvelous defence!" He grinned. "You're FABULOUS Bug-type trainers!" he complimented. "You ought to be proud of yourselves and your pokémon."

Takishi, Yusuke, and Itachi had slanted mouthes from unsureness as they looked at each other and their pokémon. "You really sure?" asked Takishi. "I mean, sure, we trained them a lot, but that's only because we had nothing else to do. We never beat anyone when we all went off on our journeys...and I dunno if I'd've won this time..."

At this, Bugsy stamped his foot. "You wussies!" he shouted, changing tone from complimentary to insulting in an instant. "You're not going out and being trainers because you LOST all the time? How cowardly can you get?!"

The children staggered away, taken aback (n.p.i.) by all of this from him. "But...Miss Bugsy..." whined Yusuke.

Bugsy shook his head. "No 'buts,'" he said firmly. "Trainers lose all the time. It's a part of life. But the point of being a trainer is that you try, try again. I'm pretty sure you've had your share of trouble training your pokémon up, right?" he asked, pointing to them all. "Don't tell me you only did that because you were at home and not losing all the time--losing makes you stronger even more than winning."

They raised their eyebrows at this. """It DOES?!""" they asked in doubt, amazement, and confusion.

Bugsy nodded. "Yeah, and I think Miss Bito Kagome here can explain pretty well," he said, holding his arm out to her. "Or, should I say, Miss Lost-in-the-first-Championship-prelims?"

Kagome gasped, blushing. "Y-You know about that?" she asked.

Bugsy nodded. "Yeah," he said, "it was on tv, after all. I heard about you again, and that you tried again and lost--not as quickly, though, by far." He smiled and crossed his arms. "I'm not happy that you obviously gave up at that point, but why not you explain how losing can sometimes be better for you to these children?"

Kagome gulped, sweating. "Ummm..." Looking at Takishi, Yusuke, and Itachi, she lowered her eyebrows and nodded, determined. "Losing," she began, "is a fact of life we all must face. Sure, it sucks, but it's good, too. It's because that you have the ability to learn from your mistakes--even if you don't think you do. It's something we all know, down to a genetic level. It's like how discipline works--something bad happens when you do something you shouldn't, and to avoid it again, you don't do what you did."

The boys looked at her with determinedly blank faces as she spoke. "In this case, losing a battle means you have to think about what you did wrong and find a way to correct it for next time." She was actually starting to cry a bit now. "It's no good to give up. That means you've REALLY lost. And...And you'll never see what could happen if you win. Even if it's your dream to win a certain battle...and you lose it...try again, and again, and again..." She looked at her pokémon, who were looking up at her. "...and you'll get to it..." Bursting out crying, she reached down and hugged her pokémon. "I'm sorry I let you guys down all those years ago!" she cried. "I was just so weak and young and foolish! I talk like I'm wise...and here I am, realizing I have just as far to go as those guys!" Her pokémon blushed at this, then patted her on the back as she cried. "I want so badly to try again, now...What about you?" she asked, holding them out again. The three small pokémon nodded and smiled, making sounds of agreement.

"And that's what I'm happiest about." Everyone turned to Bugsy. He was smiling and standing with his arms crossed. "It takes a lot of courage to admit your faults, even more to even want to try and fix them, and it takes a lot of cowardice to hide from them, even more to deny that they're fixable."

Takishi blinked, utterly confused. "...Okay, what the heck's going on?" he asked. He pointed to himself. "I thought WE were supposed to be the ones being taught a lesson."

Bugsy nodded. "At first, yes," he said, "but after I recognized your guardian, I realized she needed some help, too. It looks like her desire to help you guys out of this big bind I heard about from her has helped her out, too, seeing as it's the same thing--dealing with losing." He grinned. "You think I got to be a Gym Leader just like that?" he asked, snapping his fingers. "Think again! I lost a lot, too, just like everyone else. But I worked hard." He pointed to them all. "You guys have worked hard, too, to make your pokémon strong. I can see it in your eyes! And in their eyes, I can see that they're getting antsy!"

Kagome nodded, releasing her pokémon from her arms. "I've been trying to ignore my pokémon for years, I guess. They're just bursting with the desire to try for the League again!" She grinned. "I bet your pokémon are getting anxious to try again, too."

Takishi, Yusuke, and Itachi looked genuinely surprised and amazed. Turning to their pokémon, they asked for confirmation. They all made sounds and motions signifying that, yes, they wanted to try again. This only increased when asked if they were certain about it. At this, the three boys, with hopeful smiles on their faces, turned and looked at the two women.

Bugsy grinned. "So, you gonna try again?" he asked. "All of you?" He was addressing everyone at this point.

Kagome sniffed and wiped her eyes and nodded while the boys shouted, """YEAH!!""" together. She only quietly said, "Yes."

Bugsy winked and gave a thumbs-up. "Then good luck to all of you on your journeys!" he bade them. "And come visit me sometime, you three!" He turned to leave.

They promised that they would as they waved after her. Then, Kagome cried out, "THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, MISTER BUGSY!!"

Bugsy turned and grinned. "Hey, I just helped things along, here," he called back. "YOU'RE the one who made it really happen!" He chuckled as he turned around and left the park.

Kagome blushed a little. "All...me? Really?" she asked nobody quietly.

"Hey, Kagome?"

"Huh?" Kagome looked down to see Takishi with his brothers. "Takishi?"

Takishi smiled. "Thanks, Kagome," he said. "I really mean it. I dunno if we would have seen any of this without you."

Kagome blushed deeper, chuckling nervously and putting a hand on the back of her neck. "You think so?" she asked. "All I did was try and show you that there's more to your lives than what you were talking about...and..." She dropped her voice to a whisper as she crouched to them. "...saving your necks from a planned police ambush at your usual spot tomorrow," she added.

At this, the three boys' hair stood on end as they reeled back in shock at the danger that had been averted. """NO WAY!!""" they cried in English, jaws on the ground.

Kagome giggled. "Oh, yeah, they were," she said. "I'm just so relieved that you guys got smart in time..."

The three looked at each other (hair and jaws back to normal), then made sheepish faces. They then looked at Kagome. "We're sorry, Kagome," said Takishi. "Me, especially. I'm just so stubborn..."

"We really owe you big time for this," Yusuke said. "Without you, we would have gotten jailed..."

"And without you," Itachi said, "we never would have ended up getting a much-needed lesson."

They bowed to her. """Thank you and forgive us, Kagome!"""

Kagome's mouth was quavering in a wavy line from her emotions at this. 'This...no way...' She cried happy tears as she hugged the boys and said, "Of course!! Of course!!" joyfully.

(-)Baby that flow(?)

(-)Nine-nine 'till infinity

(-)Y'know I'm sayin'?

(-)Yeah, yeah

(-)We got DOUBLE

(-)In the place to be

(-)An-a, yeah you don't stop

(-)We got Toku

(-)In the place to be

(-)An the, yeah, yeah, you don't stop

(-)On an' on an' on an'-on-an'-on

(-)(On an' on an' on an'-on-an'-on)

(-)Uh-uh-uh, y'know I'm sayin'?

(-)Aright!

(-)Yeah!

(-)That' right, y'all

(-)All the way live

(-)Life is beautiful

(-)Y'know what I'm sayin'?

(-)We're the future of Tokyo sound...

:-:-:

The next morning saw a woman's hand holding a letter reading, "Meet us at Vermillion. Why? Well, it's a long story, but..." The rest of the letter was hidden by the image of Kagome travelling along with a backpack with Takishi, Yusuke, and Itachi, now in separate, different clothes, behind her, as all of them went off on their renewed journeys. Kagome is smiling as she looks behind her, even laughing, while the three boys laugh and smile back. The wind blows a few flower petals past as they continue along a hill in a grassy field. In the background, like a watermark, was the smiling, crying face of the mother as she looked down at the letter's end, which you couldn't see at all since the back of the paper was turned to the point of view.

(-)...Now!

:-:-:

The Ouendan watched in the window of the apartment as the mother quietly read the letter that same morning. They were getting a strong image of what Kagome and the others were doing as they watched. Then, satisfied, they turned and walked a ways to give her some peace before looking at each other and nodding.

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

-

(...)

-

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

(...)

TEUUSHH!!

-

--

--

The three sighed and leaned against the wall of the building. "PHEW!" Kioshi said, mopping his brow. "I didn't know if that was going to end or not!"

"Yeah," Suzu breathed weakly. "We stayed up all night and into the morning...Ugh, so tired..."

"I think he was referring to FT's standard long-windedness and him going WAY longer than the ending of a stage should go, especially if the all-O's bonus picture's supposed to come when he planned it," mumbled Hibiki, looking a bit annoyed. When he suddenly heard the sound of what seemed like a giant cracking his knuckles, he gasped and said, "I-I mean, yeah! Yeah, stayed up all night...yeah..." 'Don't hurt me!'

(I won't if you don't break the fourth wall just to point out the obvious like that again.)

'Okay, okay, I promise...wait...Huh?' Hibiki puzzled over whatever confused him while Kioshi looked over to Dragonair.

With a smile, he asked, "See, Dragonair?"

Dragonair tilted her head in askance. 'See what?'

Kioshi chuckled. "It turned out alright. I know, we all hated those kids, but we did what we had to do." His face went serious. "It's our job. If you're going to hang around us, I hope that you understand that. That goes for you two, too," he added, pointing to Croconaw and Teddiursa. "It's a matter of duty to the job of Ouendan. We cheer for those in need when all of the world's against them. That is, of course, if they're of a good or reforming heart. We brush off the bad guys, trust me, and we know whether they're decieving us." 'Just like how I have the feeling that sulky ol' Dragonair felt that Tag, Yer, and It--er, Takishi, Yusuke, and Itachi, I mean, needed to be changed and that Kagome wanted to make them change for the better,' he suspected.

Dragonair simply nodded, then yawned. 'Oooog, staying up that late canNOT be good for my scales,' she groaned in her head sleepilly.

Kioshi yawned, too. "Don't tell me you learned a new attack and are trying it out on me," he joked. "But you've got a point, regardless..." He wearilly turned to the other two. "Well, my Morning Town friends," he addressed, getting their attention, "I think we're going to have to stay at the Center for another day while we recover from this all-nighter cheer..."

The other two groaned at this, and all three sighed, hanging their heads and arms down center as they stood with their legs apart, looking quite comical in their defeat. Then, as one, the whole party turned and trudged back to the Center.

The sound of the doors sliding open caused Nurse Joy to automatically smile (eyes closed, of course) and say, "Welcome to the Pokémon Center!" She opened her eyes as she continued, "How may I...help...you?" When she saw the baggy eyes and sorry condition of the Ouendan and their pokémon friends, she let out a sigh. "You guys are something else, you know?"

"By the way," Kioshi mumbled as he passed by slowly, "you don't have to worry about Tag, Yer, and It anymore...relay that to Officer Jenny for us, would you?" he asked. "And if she asks who's responsible, tell her it's someone who deeply cares about them."

Joy raised her eyebrows at this. "Wha...? Did you...do something?" she asked cautiously.

Though she couldn't see it since his back was to her, Kioshi smirked. "No," he said groggily, and Joy had to listen hard to him, "all we did was our job. Good night."

And they were in their rooms and asleep on the beds, all of them, by the time Joy came to ask what that job was. She smiled when she saw how tired they were and the cute sight of them resting with their pokémon friends: Dragonair with, of course, Kioshi, her hat resting on his bag on the floor while she lay coiled up on him; Croconaw with Hibiki, curled into a ball in front of him; and Teddiursa lying on his side next to Suzu's head. (The latter Ouendan had just barely enough energy to undo her hair before collapsing on the bed. Right now, the actually fairly-long strands were all around her. The eye normally covered looked plain while closed, as it was now free of the shield of hair.) Joy smiled and quietly closed the blinds and then the door. "Sweet dreams," she whispered behind the closed door before walking back to the desk to help a waiting trainer.

--

As Hibiki pointed out, I probably made that ending a bit TOO long. He didn't really say that it was because of all the dialouge, thankfully. I'm sorry, really, I am, but that's the way stories and the way I write go. I didn't really have a plan, majorly, to have Kagome learn something in the end as well, but...it just happened. That's the way things go. And sorry for the overall HUGE length of the chapter--21 pages in WordPerfect on my stupid black-and-white-screen ThinkPad with Windows 3.1 on it! :( Well, anyway, this two-part chapter--sorta--is done and over with, now. Hey, this makes for the longest cheer yet!

I'll provide a link to the song, on YouTube, as soon as I can. It's "Life is Beautiful" by m-flo. I was originally going to do "TRIPOD BABY", but the lyrics conflicted a lot in meaning and I was confused as to what the main voice was and also on how to do it. I'm also sorry for the amount of pokémon dependency that this stage has, but that's how the story came out after much thinking on what to do with the song. And, no, I wasn't planning on having Tag/Takishi, Yer/Yusuke, and It/Itachi being recurring characters, but now I've still got one thing to resolve with them yet.

(Note on the names in this chapter: Yes, I realize that they're all the names of anime/game characters, even Kagome's last name (Daisukenojo Bito from The World Ends with You--AWESOME (but helluva hard) DS game, pick it up if you dare), but for her, I couldn't think up of many Japanese female names and I was reaching for a last name. As for the boys, I decided to base their nicknames off of their names' first sounds. T for Tag, Y for Yer, and I for It. Things just became Takishi (like Takeshi from IGPX), Yusuke (Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho), and Itachi (Uchiha from Naruto(WHICH ROCKS, I DON'T CARE IF YOU HATE IT!! -strawberry-)). Why did this all happen? No Internet access no ability to fish up more real Japanese names from Google. Sad panda, indeed.)

Another apology for the song's length, itself. I know, five minutes plus isn't Ouendan/EBA length, but hey, this is my dream-EBA/Ouendan-game fanfiction, so I get to take a few liberties. Mleh. Anyway, more comin' down the pipe soon! See ya!

OI. Folks, changing all of the pronouns for Bugsy was NOT fun...


	22. Kiss From a Rose

(22)( ) (The) (Sad) (Level...)

((Oh, great! I'm gonna have to (hopefully, as bad as it sounds) make people cry!! ;.; I DON'T FWANNA!!))

"Aaaahh..."

"Aaaahh..."

"AAAAHH!!"

Me and Hunter looked over at Meyers. All three of us were wearing black swim trunks with a dark blue stripe on each side with a yellow star near the cuff, as well as our shades (of course). I wore my lanyard and keys everywhere and at all times, since I was definitely out of the house. Me and Hunter each had a white, towel-material robe behind us on a chair, where our badges were kept. The rest of our suits were in our room.

Meyers was cringing away from the water, blowing at his foot, which was a little red. We frowned at him. "Come on, Meyers," I said. "It's not THAT hot."

"Yeah," Hunter agreed. "Besides, we've been in hot springs before, what with traveling with Ash so much. What's the deal?"

We were currently at a hot springs up in the mountains that Dawn had heard of a while back. The mountain was so high, we could see a snow cap on it. We were fairly nearby the snow cap, actually, so our breath was visible outside the springs. It was quite an experience. Sure, some of us have gone to a hotel or something and taken a break in the hot tub while looking outside a window to see snow on the ground, but taking a dip in some hot springs, outdoors, and seeing snow not that far away from you while you very well know it's summer is another thing altogether.

Meyers grimaced at us. "I-I just need to get a bit warmer before I can get in!" he told us. "I mean, it's COLD out here! I think my foot's about to freeze solid, actually...You guys are nuts, I swear." He crossed his arms and stood with a smirk. "When you get out again, you're going to turn into a couple of Elite Beat Agentcicles!"

We nodded. "Yeah, so?" I asked. "We'll just quick wrap ourselves up in our robes over there and we'll be fine."

"And if that doesn't work," Hunter said, "we could always just practice a bit."

Meyers frowned worriedly. "Alright...If you say so..." He was already re-wrapped in his robe, so he just crouched down, pulling his arms in, and sat at the edge of the springs.

We watched the group's pokémon playing in the water. Nearby us, Ash, Brock, and Dawn were relaxing in the spring, as well. "Man," Ash sighed happily, leaning his head back against the low wall of the spring behind him, "this is great. Thanks for telling us about this place, Dawn!"

Dawn giggled and smiled. "No problem, Ash!" she replied. "Relaxing in a hot spring up high where you can see a beautiful snow cap...Sure, it's cold when you get out, but it's great while you're in the water."

"This water's very theraputic, too," Brock commented, smiling as well. "It's relaxing my body, mind, and spirit all at once!"

Meyers ventured to poke his foot in again. He dipped his toe in and out quick, paused, then slowly put the rest in. He smiled, took his robe off, and quickly slid into the water, putting me between my backups. He sighed in pleasure, as well. "Aaaahh..."

Me and Hunter smiled at him. "There you go, you big baby," Hunter said.

Meyers pouted. "Oh, shush," he said. "At least I don't have to worry if I get my head underwater, fro bro."

Hunter put a hand to his big afro. "You realize how long it takes me to get this dry?" he asked. "This ain't no crew cut we're talkin' 'bout, here, y'know."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Guys, let's just relax while we can," I said. "I mean, that's what I'M trying to do. Leading you two in our cheers ain't exactly a picnic." I gave a sad smirk at this.

But they gave a scowl at this. "Hey, what's witchu, lately?" asked Hunter a bit unhappily.

"And we're just as tasked as you are during cheers," Meyers defended.

Ash and the others sweatdropped and held up their hands to us. "Hey," Ash said, "let's just try and do what Lock said and rest before you're called off again! We're here to enjoy things, right?"

"Yeah, guys," I said, raising an eyebrow. "Sure, we're stuck here, but let's try and enjoy the moment, for now, okay?"

They gave me a sideways look, but they got off of my back. I shrugged, not really getting why they were in my face like that. Hunter commented, "I'm actually a bit homesick," quietly. "I'm kinda missing my family, as annoying as they can be sometimes."

I shrugged, smiling confidently. "Yeah, we can't see them right now, but at least they can still see us, right?" I asked. "They can't miss us as much, then. Plus," I added, chuckling, "they get the joy of having one of the kids do their thing on national tv! Come on, you have to admit it's cool being related to someone who appeared on tv, period."

Hunter gave a small smile at this. "Yeah, I guess that's cool..." he muttered. The two thought over this for a bit before shrugging. I shrugged, too, and we all sat back and took a nice sigh of pleasure, all together. "Aaaahh..."

A few moments of silence passed, barring the splashing the pokémon made, before Meyers frowned a bit and said, "You know, we actually haven't gotten called to cheer for a while. I don't think we're in any danger."

Just then, we heard our badges beep.

Me and Hunter half-eyed behind our shades and looked at Meyers. ""Gee, thanks,"" we said flatly, and Meyers slapped his forehead, realizing he'd jinxed it. I groaned. "Can't we just let them handle it themselves for once?" I asked tiredly. "We're here to relax, after all..."

Ash frowned at me. "Isn't it your guys' jobs to do this?" he asked. "And what if it's someone who really needs help? You might need to help someone keep from getting majorly hurt!"

I batted a hand. "Naw; sorry to say, but this place is really tame. I doubt it's something we'd be in serious trouble if we didn't do it."

Pikachu, who was floating a bit by Ash in the relatively shallow water and looking at me with a frown, too, raised his ears sharply as he saw a pair of red, glowing eyes floating in the air behind me. He gasped. 'What the--?!' He could have SWORN my body's outline was starting to shimmer, too, as if hot air was forming around it. The others might have noticed, but could have dismissed it for, well, hot air. I certainly didn't notice anything. The Electric-type clenched his fists in the water as he felt an uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

Meyers elbowed me hard first, knocking me over to Hunter, who elbowed me even harder. "The HELL crawled up YO' behind?!" Hunter asked angrily.

Suddenly, Pikachu saw the eyes and the shimmering vanish. He blinked for a second before shaking his head. "I think I've been in here too long," he muttered in his language. "The heat's making me see things and I think I'm starting to get a bit warm..." He swam over to Ash. Behind him had sat Croagunk, sticking his head out of the top of the water and watching with those creepy eyes, just croaking as always. He had been watching, as always, unmoving, the entire time.

Thrust first to one side and then the other, it was as if I was a ping-pong ball between two strong paddlers. When I stopped, I blinked and shook my head, the world suddenly snapping back. "OW-www!" I said, rubbing my arms. "What's the deal?" I asked, looking at them. They glared back at me, for some reason, and I sweatdropped. "Uuuuh..." I then noticed the beeping. "Oh, ship! How long's that been going?!" I asked, quickly getting out of the water and drying off my hands before grabbing my badge out of my robe.

Everyone looked at me with a bit of confusion or apall for a second before Ash crossed his arms. "That's what I thought," he grumped.

I looked at him with a face of confusion for a second before I looked at my badge, flipping it open. The other two were already at theirs. Kahn was looking at me. He was NOT pleased. "Hang on after the briefing, Agent Lock," was all he growled before the screens of the badge changed to the breifing.

Meyers and Hunter raised their eyebrows at me, while I was totally at a loss. 'What did I do...?'

- - - - -

A small house stood in the middle of a village up high in the mountains, way up where it was so cold, snow was there year-round. It wasn't Snowpoint, but it was still a year-round snowbound town. "Alright, I've got to go, now!" said a male voice inside.

A young man with short, slightly messy blonde hair, medium-sized copper eyes, and a peach fuzz moustache was walking out the door into the snowy landscape. He was tall and very fit. He appeared to be in some sort of uniform, one that looked like it was meant for battle. Over his shoulder was a duffel bag that matched perfectly with the uniform. He had turned to shout back over his shoulder. He had a sad smile on his face. "I hate to leave you here alone, but I've got to," he said.

(Fritz Brassman, 19, Soldier)

He spoke to a young woman with very long, straight, red hair tied into a thick braid that reached to her seat, large, clear, light blue eyes, no lipstick, a pair of golden hanging earrings, a pink sweater, jeans, blue snow boots, and a beautiful diamond ring on her finger. She was a little shorter than he was and was looking up at him with sad eyes on her face. "I know," she said softly. She walked over and gave him a hug and a kiss. "Just come back, okay?" she asked him, smiling tenderly up at him.

(Kelly Miller, 19, Artist)

Fritz smiled and hugged and kissed back when she did. He held her and replied, "I promise," gently. "I'll write to you, I swear, too. I'll think of you every day. Just don't worry, okay?" he asked, rubbing her back.

Kelly smiled and hugged him hard. "I'll try not to," she said. "Just remember..." She looked at her ring. "...you've got a wedding to go to when you get back."

Fritz smiled and chuckled, pulling away. "I know," he said. "And I wouldn't want to have it with any other girl." He kissed her one more time before turning and waving over his shoulder. "Well, I've gotta go! See you, love you!"

Kelly stood and waved back, smiling while her eyes looked a little wet. "You, too," she said back.

A door slammed and everything went white for a bit.

--

Eight months later...

--

Kelly was at home, poking at a bowl of rice. A letter holder sitting on the table held letters she liked to save. It had four slots, one on each of its four sides. One slot was marked "Mom & Dad", one was marked "Brother", one was marked "High School Pals", and the last was marked "Fritz". There were letters filling all of the slots...except for Fritz's.

She sighed sadly. "Fritz...Could I please hear SOMEthing about you?" she asked in the empty house. She heard a knock on her door, causing her to look up. Glancing at the clock and seeing it was 1:08 PM. "Must be the mail," she muttered, getting up with a smile on her face. "Maybe today..."

She opened the door. "A package?" she asked as she did. Then she saw who was standing there and stopped dead.

Officer Jenny, dressed in a parka and snow pants instead of her normal attire, stood at her step with a serious look on her face. "Are you Kelly Miller?" she asked.

Kelly nodded, getting scared. "Yes," she said. "Is...something wrong?" 'Please just be a neighborhood watch alert...please just be a neighborhood watch alert...'

Officer Jenny sighed, bowing her head. "Do you know a Fritz Brassman?" she asked.

Kelly gasped, slowly nodding. A hand began to rise to her mouth, showing her engagement ring.

Officer Jenny looked up again, noticing the jewelry. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but...your fianceé..."

As she heard what came next, Kelly's eyes widened into plates, her face turned pale, she brought her hands to her mouth, and her heart nearly stopped. "...No..." she whispered. Tears began to well up.

Officer Jenny solemnly continued, "We found a picture of you in a locket he had with him." She produced a golden locket in the shape of a heart. She gave it to her. "I'm sorry for your loss." She bowed to her.

Kelly took the locket and opened it. There was a picture of her inside of it, indeed. A tear fell onto it, soon freezing in the wintery weather. "Fritz..." she whispered. "Why..." She looked up and asked, "Did he...have anything to tell me? Anything at all?"

Officer Jenny shook her head. "He told nobody about you, and we didn't find any letters addressed to you in his possession on him or in his quarters," she said.

Kelly was silent for a moment before she bowed her head. Her eyes were unseen as a shadow passed over them. She held her arms to her sides, clutching the locket tightly. "Thank you for telling me," she said quietly before reentering her house.

--

Fritz looked down from above her. He was dressed in an open winter jacket, a single-striped sweater, jeans, and sneakers, but the colors were indefinite, since he was entirely transluscent. The ghost of Kelly's dead fianceé grimaced with incredible pangs of guilt as he observed the scene. "I..." he said quietly. "I...I blew it..." He clenched his fists and squeezed her eyes shut. "I totally blew her off while I was away! I never made myself sit down and write a letter!!" He was starting to cry, too, as he opened his eyes. "I...I...I can't believe it...I'm sorry!!" He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted at her. "I'M SORRY!! KELLY!! PLEASE, NO! I'M SORRY!!"

But it was no use. He even floated down and passed through the wall of her house to look at her and yell again, "I'M SORRY!!" She was lying on the couch, crying, and didn't appear to hear him, even if she could. He reached down to touch her, but all she felt was a sudden chill as he passed through her, and she whipped away from the feeling.

Sniffing, she uncovered her face, which had been cupped into her hands. She looked down at the diamond ring. "You swear, huh?" she asked. "Think about me every DAY, HUH?!" She sat up, ripped off the ring and threw it clear across the room, where it hit a vase with some flowers in it on a table and smashed it. "YOU JUST LEFT TO GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed into the room as the vase and the water and flowers it held fell to the floor. She clutched the couch with white-knuckled hands, panting in anger but still crying. "YOU WENT TO FORGET ABOUT ME!! I told myself I'd NEVER forget YOU, but here you go, saying you'll write me and that you'll think about me every day!!" She held up the locket. "A stinking locket?! That's IT?!" She threw it to the floor and roared, "I thought that you'd be here for me from miles away!! BUT YOU NEVER WERE, AND YOU'LL NEVER BE AGAIN!!" She fell to the floor, crying with full force. "I...I loved you...I thought...I thought you did...too..." she choked between sobs.

Fritz floated there, horror seeping into him. "No..." He reached for her, but knew that she couldn't feel him and stopped. "I'm right here, my love...but...I can't reach you...I'm sorry...I'm an idiot, please, don't cry..." He hung his head. "Please..." His fists shook as ethereal tears splashed onto the wooden floor, unheard and unseen. "I...I can't go yet...I love you too much...Please...hear me...just hear me..." he begged shakily.

The wind outside blew hard. The mailman came and delivered something. On one of the letters was the address, "60th Annual National Art Show." On the bottom of the front of the letter was one word: "Congratulations!"

Fritz looked down at her shuddering form, tears falling down as the snow blew across the window behind him. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

- - - - -

Everyone had crowded around to watch. The wind blew through over the outdoor springs, carrying some flakes of snow along with. Nobody cared, though. Mouthes hung open, were covered by hands, and twitched. "Oh, my gosh," Dawn whispered quietly while she backed up a little and put her hand to her mouth, throat tight. "Oh, my gosh..."

"That's...That's so awful..." Brock muttered while he gaped at the end of the breifing.

Ash made little "uh"'s while he took it in. "...I can't believe it...No..."

Hunter and Meyers looked at me, serious, frowning faces. They weren't looking to stable, themselves, though. "'Doubt it's something we'd be in serious trouble if we didn't do it,' huh?" Hunter asked me.

I was just speechless. "I...I...We...But..." I began to stutter, badge shaking in my hand. I then did something that an Agent should, really, never do. I took off my shades and looked clearly at the breifing. (Thankfully, I later learned, the camera had shifted to just below my eyes at that point.) Tears were coming from my eyes. "...Whatever it was that I did to make you guys hate me, I'm sorry," I said quietly. I clenched my eyes shut, tears dripping down onto my badge's screen. "But please, bear with me for this one. He's never going to leave until his soul is at rest...and that means finding a way to say he's sorry..." I put my shades on again after wiping my eyes with my arm and stood up.

Everyone was blinking at me, looks of surprise and confusion on their faces. Meyers then narrowed his eyes. "What the HECK, man?!" he asked, standing up and looking at me. "One second you're acting like a jerk, and the next you're suddenly human again?! Is this some kinda sick JOKE?!" He raised his arms up as he spoke.

I took a step back away from him. "I...Excuse me??" I asked, sweatdropping. Hunter stood up and crossed his arms as he walked beside Meyers, who lowered his arms to put his hands on his hips. "What do you mean, some kind of joke? I...I..." I trailed off as I tried to find words.

"Agents!"

We looked to our badges to find Commander Kahn. He looked even more serious than normal. "You have an important mission to get to," he said. "Get your uniforms on and get to it. This isn't going to be a normal mission. You HAVE to choose a song that fits this situation. Nothing like "Baby Come Back" or anything."

I looked at him from above my shades like he was high. "Of COURSE we won't!" I told him. "This calls for a slow song...like...uhm..."

"'Kiss From a Rose'," suggested Meyers. "That's a slow song and it's pretty good."

I snapped my fingers. "That's a great idea, Meyers!" I said, smiling at him. "It's about a guy describing his love to a woman. It's perfect!"

At this, Hunter and Meyers blinked. "Wow," Hunter said. "I half expected you to say it wasn't a good choice and give a stupid reason, like 'it's talking about drugs' or something that some people think."

I cocked my head a bit in surprise. "Really?" I asked.

"And, quite frankly, I agree with him," Kahn said. "Meyers, Hunter, you are dismissed. Get going."

""Yes, sir,"" they both said before snapping their badges shut and running through a door, entering the building where we stayed.

"Lock, could we go somewhere more private?" asked Kahn.

I looked over my shoulder at the trainers and nodded. "Right." I walked away and made my way to the other side of the hot spring. It was cold, but I took it because I had to. Now in relative privacy, I turned to the screen and asked, "You wanted to talk after the breifing, right?"

Kahn nodded. "Yes, Lock," he said. "I am ashamed in you. You never waste any time in picking up your breifing. In fact, you've been acting a little...self-centered, lately."

I raised my eyebrows. "I have??" I asked in surprise. "Really?"

Kahn raised an eyebrow and hmmmed in thought. "Lock, do you remember what you've been doing the past hour?" he asked.

I blinked. "Uhm...yeah, going to and bathing in the hot springs," I answered.

"Any holes in there that seem a bit strange?"

I looked for them. Then, I gasped as I found one. "I remember teasing Meyers for not getting into the hot springs, but then...like...something happened, I dunno, but then I remember they elbowed me pretty bad. I don't remember Meyers getting into the water..." I thought hard, though. "I have a FEELING I sorta do, though...uhm..." I gasped as I suddenly remembered. "...Oh, my God..."

"You remember, don't you?" Kahn asked. I looked at him and nodded, a look of horror on my face. "Now do you understand why the others were mad at you?"

I nodded. "Yeah...but no, kinda," I answered. "I mean...why would I say things like that?" I asked. "Not to brag, but I'm a nice guy, generally. I'd never be such a jerk...would I?"

Kahn narrowed his eyebrows. "'Could I?' would be a better question," he said. "I think that what happened isn't entirely your fault. I'll analyze the episode after it's finished. Now, go on, hurry and get to it. Dismissed."

I nodded. "Yes, sir!" I said, then snapped my badge shut and ALMOST ran, but I remembered that I was around what was basically a pool. A shallow one, at that. So, I did one of my fastest walks--roll-stepping. Hey, it's using ALL of your foot to propel yourself, so it's no wonder it's fast. While I went, I suddenly remembered the other times I'd been a bit more...jerky. 'What's going on with me?' I wondered. The part that had scared me the most was the fact that I had no idea that I was acting differently whenever I did. For all I knew, I could have been starting to do so again right then. I shook my head to clear it. 'I can't think about that now,' I told myself. 'I can't lose focus! Not now!!'

-:-:-

(-)By-yai-ya by-ya by by by-ya by-ya-ya...

**-:-:-Mission: An Unwritten Letter-:-:-**

Kelly walked in with the letter from the Art Show. She gasped. "I'm going to the National Art Show as an artist?!" she asked in amazement. "No way..." She looked to her left and saw pictures on the wall of her and Fritz and frowned. "Fritz...You gave me inspiration...encouragement..." She lowered the letter. "...But..." She walked slowly out the door after getting her coat, gloves, scarf, and hat. "I'll need to get some supplies, regardless..."

Fritz reached after her. "Kelly..." he whispered, mouth agape. "Come back...It's...not safe..." He followed her out the door.

Kelly winced as the wind blew at her face. "I'd better hurry..." she muttered. "It's starting to become a blizzard..."

(We came silently came over to the side of the road and started to sway back and forth gently, holding our mics to our mouthes and one arm up, as we began to sing.)

-There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea

-You became

-The light on the dark side of me

-Love remained

-A drug that's the high and not the pill

We sang Seal's "Kiss From a Rose" as best as we could. At first, Fritz was floating only just behind her as she walked into the moderate wind, squinting and holding an arm up as she went. He had an arm held out to her and was trying to get to her. Then, the wind picked up speed and Kelly had to trudge, one step at a time, with both arms up to sheild herself, through the snow. Fritz had fallen back for some reason, and he fought to get to her, stretching out as best as he could towards her. Then, I dunno what happened, but next, when Fritz--uttering a cry--shot towards her and was right by her, the wind suddenly stopped, and the snow fell beautifully. Kelly couldn't help but smile at the sight as she walked on, unhindered. Fritz floated alongside her, smiling a bit that she was happy.

Suddenly, the wind spiked up again very sharply. "Ungh!" grunted Kelly, guarding her face again, but her candy cane-striped scarf suddenly slipped off, exposing her mouth and nose to the elements. She yelped, "NO!!" as she turned and grabbed for it, missing.

Fritz gasped. 'That's the scarf I gave her for Christmas last year!' he realized before he raced for it. He could easily get to it thanks to his ability to fly. In fact, he GRABBED it! Astounded for a moment that he could make contact with it, he stayed still in midair.

"What the--?!" Kelly muttered as she saw her scarf stop and blow along, as if held by someone.

Fritz noticed that her attention was caught and nodded before flying down.

Kelly gasped as the scarf flew towards her gently, slid around her body in a spiral from the ground up, and wrapped itself around her neck and over her nose and mouth with the greatest of care. It tied itself securely in a knot different from the one she used. As this happened, she gasped again. "This is just like how Fritz tied my scarf on for me...!" she realized aloud as the scarf slowly tightened the knot.

Fritz held the ends of the scarf, smiling. 'It worked...' he thought in amazement.

**--(O)--**

(-)But did you know

(-)That when it snows

(-)My eyes become large and

(-)The light that you shine can be seen

Kelly made it to the art shop and went inside it. "I've got to find some supplies," she muttered. "I'm probably going to need a lot of paints..." She walked on down the aisles, searching.

Fritz followed her, a worried look on his face. "A shop where people get what they need to express themselves...but do they have any way for me to?"

(We walked in as well, standing in front of a rack of colored pencils and continuing. Sometimes, we would make more gentle motions, such as bringing our hand to the mic or holding it out forwards and bringing it back in a circle.)

-Baby

-I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey

-Ooh, the more I get of you

-The stranger it feels, yeah

-And now that your rose is in bloom

-A light hits the gloom on the grey

(Yes, it's "grey"--I watched Seal sing it at a live event (on YouTube). He didn't close his mouth in the "v" sound, and I didn't hear a "v" at all. Still a great song!)

At first, Fritz was floating behind her and helping Kelly by pointing to different paints and supplies as she walked up and down the aisle. To his happy surprise, Kelly, who was just browsing, suddenly snapped her eyes to the items that Fritz pointed to, her eyes catching for some reason. She would stop and take a look at the paint or the paintbrush before smiling and bagging it. Then, for some reason, Fritz, a little farther away, was pointing, but Kelly wasn't responding, still looking up and down the aisle. Fritz looked a little at a loss. Then, to Fritz's horror, Kelly had turned away from him, holding a jar of paint and talking with the cashier visible down the aisle. Fritz wanted to get her attention, but he was too far away, having drifted for some reason. He must have gotten his courage back, though, since he was back to pointing out more paints to her. Right before we ended the section, he had accidentially let himself drift away again and was pointing to no avail.

"I'd like to buy all of these," said Kelly, laying a bunch of paint jars and brushes on the cashier's counter, "and a good, 6'-by-8' canvas, please."

The cashier smiled and nodded her brunette, pig-tailed head. "Of course," she said, turning around.

When she left, Kelly sighed and leaned on the counter, looking a little sad. "I'm picking out some of his favorite colors..." she realized aloud to nobody.

Fritz was currently busy quickly unscrewing the lid of one of the paints, black. 'Let's hope this works...' he thought.

"OH-kay," grunted the cashier as she came back, carrying the large canvas. "That'll be...huh?" She looked and saw a brush was missing. "You put one back, or something?" she asked. "And what's with the open jar?" she added, noticing that, as well.

Kelly looked and gasped. "How did that...and my brush! Where'd it..." she began before looking up and dropping her jaw. "Oh...my..."

"Huh?" The cashier followed her gaze and nearly dropped the canvas. "WOAH!"

A green-handled paintbrush was hanging in midair, having been dipped in black paint. The brush was currently painting on the canvas the words, "I'm sorry, Ke'" (the second apostrophe being a vertical line) when the cashier had yelled. Fritz, surprised, lost his grip on the paintbrush and dropped it--well, it passed through his hand. "Shoot!" he muttered as it fell and struck the countertop.

The cashier had that blue-forehead thing as she said, "I'm working at a haunted art shop!"

Kelly, however, was gazing at the canvas, hands to her mouth as she whispered, "Was it spelling...'Kelly'...?"

Fritz smiled. "Yes..."

**--(O)--**

(-)(Instrumental and starting background vocals)

Night fell. Kelly had gotten back home and set her canvas on an easel (a new one, since the old one had been "vandalized" by Fritz. She was currently making some dinner. "I've got to get my mind off of him," she muttered while she brought out some ingredients. She opened a bag of rice and frowned. "Great, and making one of his favorite dishes is going to help me how?" she asked herself.

Fritz floated down by her, a worried and confused look on his face. "Oh, Kelly...you know how bad you are at chicken teriyaki...Why..."

(We came quietly into the kitchen and continued.)

-There is so much a man can tell you

-So much he can say

-You remain

-My power, my pleasure, my pain

-(Baby)

-To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny

-Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?

-But did you know

-That when it snows

-My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen

-Baby

-I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey

-Ooh, the more I get of you

-The stranger it feels, yeah (yeah)

-And now that your rose is in bloom

-A light hits the gloom on the grey

At first, Kelly was doing alright, absently preparing her meal by stirring a pot and chopping food. She was trying to get her mind off of Fritz and was pausing and shaking her head every now and then. Fritz floated by the pot when she chopped, then by the cutting board when she stirred, trying his best to be by her. He was shunned each time he approached her, though, absently. Then, Kelly started to try too hard on the cooking, or something. She was dashing from a bubbling pot and stirring quickly to her cutting board to cut things again before her pet skitty (wearing a tag that read Bob) could get to the ingredients and shooing him, back and forth, with a frantic look on her face. She wasn't doing all that well at the dish. Fritz was reaching out for her, but he was at the other side of the kitchen, wearing a hopeless look on his face. Then, however, after this breif moment of panic, Fritz floated over and touched her arm. For some reason, Kelly calmed down. She prepared her food with a confident smile on her face, even though it was obvious in her eyes that she was thinking about Fritz. Behind her, Fritz had a hand over hers while he guided her in her chopping. When she went to stir the rice breifly, he went and grabbed Bob off the counter and gently set the surprised pokémon onto the floor. Fritz, too, had a smile on his face. Then, right before dinner got entirely ready, Kelly must have seen Bob before Fritz had grabbed him off the counter and was starting to panic again, practically barging her dead boyfriend out of the way and back again.

With a deep breath, Kelly finished getting dinner ready and stood up, hands on her hips. "Well, let's see how it came out..." she said, and dished herself out some. She sat down and looked at her plate. She smiled sadly as the food practically sparkled up at her. "Perfect," she said. She then frowned. "Wait, I forgot the soy sauce," she muttered, standing up again and walking around the table to the kitchen.

Fritz, floating behind her, made an unsure face. "I hope I helped enough..." He then noticed something on the floor. "Oh?"

The diamond engagement ring was sitting in a pool of water beside some flowers. Fritz gasped and knelt to it. "Her ring..." He looked at his own and sighed sadly. He was still wearing it when he died. "I'm sorry..." He took it off. Then, he noticed Bob on the table. "GAACK! Bob! Off the table!" he shouted.

Bob, being a pokémon and a little more sensitive to the supernatural, heard this and jumped back. He looked and saw, suddenly, a ring floating in the air. "Nyeh!" Instantly, he was jumping and waving his paws for it, thinking it was a toy.

Fritz was surprised at this, but soon had an idea. He gave it to Bob just before Kelly returned. Kelly held a bottle of soy sauce in her hand as she walked in. When she saw Bob, she anger-veined and said firmly, "Bob! Off the table!" too. He had been in front of her food, but he hopped off immediately. She grumbled and sat down to her food. "Stupid..." She stopped when she saw what he had done.

Fritz's ring was sticking up from the pile of rice she had on her plate. The single diamond shone up at her, sparkling. She put a hand to her chest. "How...This is the same way he...gave me mine..." she whispered.

Fritz smiled as he sat at the other side of the table. "Good boy, Bob," he said quietly.

**--(O)--**

(-)(Instrumental)

Later that night, Kelly laid her head down to her pillow. "Fritz..." she whispered before falling asleep.

Fritz touched her head, determined look on his face. "I can get through to her, now! I know it!!" he said before closing his eyes, as well.

(We entered the bedroom silently and continued.)

-I've been kissed by a rose on the grey

-I've been kissed by a rose

-(And if I should fall along the way...)

-I've been kissed by a rose on the grey

(With all the echoing in it, it's hard to write it out right, sorry.)

At first, though, Fritz and Kelly were far apart, reaching out to each other as each ran forwards to no avail. Both were spectral, now. The scene in the dream was a powerful blizzard, snow flying this way and that, obscuring each's view of the other. Then, quickly, Fritz and Kelly were closer together, but still too far away. Both were still translucent, but they were in color. Fritz's winter coat was blue and periwinkle with a brass zipper, his sweater was mostly black with a single red stripe, his jeans were blue, and his sneakers were black and blue. The snow fell down hard, but it wasn't a total blizzard anymore. Finally, they got very close together, outstretched hands inches away. Both were solid and in color. They smiled at and cried a bit, looking deeply into each other's eyes. The snow fell peacefully, some flakes actually turning into sparkles.

"Fritz!!" cried Kelly.

"Kelly!!" cried Fritz.

They reached and groped, groped and reached. The snow blew harder around them, making it hard for them to touch. Then, a great gust blew from between them, a white out brewing up. Both squeezed their eyes shut and tried with all of their might.

KSSSSHHHH!!

The snow began to swirl around them as the two brought each other together. They smiled and cried as they stood, holding each other. Kelly sniffed and said, "You're here."

Fritz smiled and held the back of her head. "I've been with you ever since I met you," he told her.

The world whited out around them. Kelly awoke the next morning and looked over. She could have sworn she'd seen a figure in the light. She blinked and smiled, tears streaming down her face. "...I think I see now..." she muttered.

**--(O)--**

(-)There is so much a man can tell you, so much he can say

(-)You remain

(-)My power, my pleasure, my pain

(-)To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny

(-)Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?

(-)But did you know

(-)That when it snows

(-)My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen

Kelly stood in front of her easel in her studio, smiling. "Fritz..." She held a fist up to her chest. She was wearing her ring. "...I'm here."

Fritz smiled and touched her shoulder. "I am, too," he said.

(We nodded to each other. We knew what it was, now. We stood to the side in the studio and finished out.)

-Baby

-I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey

-Ooh, the more I get of you

-The stranger it feels, yeah

-And now that your rose is in bloom

-A light hits the gloom on the grey

-Yes, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey

-Ooh, the more I get of you

-The stranger it feels, yeah

-And now that your rose is in bloom

-A light hits the gloom on the grey

At the end, we could almost see a rose forming in front of us, whether from them or from us I haven't a clue. We sang the last parts, feeling like we were singing its shape. Regardless, we sang our hearts out.

As we pulled out all the stops, we watched as, together, Fritz and Kelly painted, side by side, smiling as they created art. Each held a paintbrush, and Kelly wasn't scared that there was a floating brush by her painting on her easel. It was as if they were in perfect sync. They never did anything worse, never fell out of sync even once as the grand painting came out before them. We couldn't see what they were doing, but we could still see them. They shared the palette together, the water together, the canvas together.

The next day, Jubilife City was entirely in formal attire as the National Art Show took place there. "And now we get to Kelly Miller's piece! Throw off the covers!" said a voice. Mr. Announcer, as some call him, was HERE, in the Pokémon world, of all places, as he held his arm out to a veiled painting. "Judges, get ready!"

The cover came off, and gasps were heard all around. A giant, beautiful picture of Fritz and Kelly standing together and looking into each others' eyes while the village began in the distance to the right, the mountain alongside them. The were close together, almost kissing. Above them was a message in black letters. Mr. Announcer gasped. "Stunning!" he whispered into the microphone.

Three judges gaped in awe at the painting.

"A...A...Absolutely beautiful!!" gasped one old man in fancy clothes. His monocle had popped out.

"What an astounding and well-executed design idea!" commented a guy who looked like a normal, everyday person. He did wear a surgeon's mask around his neck, though, and his shirt had a graffiti design on it.

"I can feel the burning love on that cold mountain from here!" exclaimed a woman in exotic shawls and such, looking sort of like a gypsy.

"Miss Miller!" cried Mr. Announcer, tilting the mic to her. "Could you tell us about this piece?"

(-)Now that your rose is in bloom...

Kelly smiled. "Well, for one," she said, looking up at the message on the painting, "that's my...former...fianceé up there. We're at one of our favorite spots." She squeezed her hand with the one holding her ring.

The crowd smiled an "Awwwwww!" smile at this. Mr. Announcer looked at the message, too. "Why's that there?" he asked.

Kelly cried a little. "It's...personal," she answered. She looked down and whispered, "...Fritz..." Fritz walked up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and looked up to see him standing there. Nobody else could see him except her. Besides, they were too busy looking at the judges as they decided together on how to judge the painting.

"Dear Love," began the ghost, smiling at her. "I'm sorry that I broke my promise. I could have written to you, and I thought about doing it, but...I guess life goes on first. I was too concerned with the then and there, I suppose. But, please, know that I never forgot about you, and that I never, ever, EVER loved anyone other than you."

(-)...A light hits the gloom...

"I thought of you every day, I worried about you every night, and I felt guilt every time I started a letter...I threw them away right away because I was never sure what to write. I've never been good at it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. All I ask now is that you live life as best as you can and be happy. No matter where I go afterwards, I'll always remember you. I love you more than you could ever know. That's why all I wish, now, is that you be happy. Even if you forget about me, if you're happy, that's all that matters, love. Forever yours, Fritz."

"Fritz..." Kelly whispered, tears flowing from her eyes as she looked up and held him. "Thank you...Thank you. You've always loved me...You have. Thank you." She closed her eyes. "If you want me to, I'll try and be happy...I will."

(-)...on the...

Fritz smiled, crying, as well, and gave her one last hug. "Thank you, Love," he said. "If you're happy...I mean it...I'm happy, too. Good-bye." He finally faded out, becoming nothing but sparkles in her arms.

Kelly cupped her hands to catch them as she looked, smiling and crying. "Good-bye..." she whispered.

--

Later that day, her and Fritz's painting stood proud, bearing a great, big, blue 1st Place ribbon on the corner of it.

(-)..grey

-:-:-

Kelly stood at home on a glorious day, painting on a canvas with a smile on her face while she thought of Fritz's smiling face. She was looking up a bit, holding her brush and palette in her hands while she paused. You could almost see his calm, smiling face behind her. He was at last at peace.

-:-:-

We stood and smiled as she began to paint again, the image of Fritz fading. We walked away down the mountainside silently, trying not to cry. When we were far enough away, our badges suddenly beeped. We pulled them out and saw a chair facing away from us.

It whipped around to show a crying Commander Kahn giving us the thumbs-up. "YEAAAAHH!!"

Crying ourselves, we nodded to each other.

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

...

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

...

TEUUSHH!!

- - - - -

- - - -

- - -

- -

-

Commander Kahn wiped his tears away quickly while he returned to his seat. "Ahh...Good work, Agents," he said. "That was a fantastic job. I'm proud that you were mature enough to do it the way you did. Thank you very much for accomplishing this mission."

We nodded, wiping our tears, too. "Was there any choice for us?" I asked. "Our hearts wouldn't have felt right if we did anything but the best."

Kahn nodded. "Good. That's an important part of being an Agent--your heart." He motioned to the screens behind him. "Even though we rely so much on our technology, the most important device to an Agent is their heart. Without it, performance is just plain old song and dance. It has no meaning in it. You did wonderfully, and for that I congratulate you."

We smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks, Commander, but we were just doing our duty," I said. We put our hands down again. "Anything else you want to add?" I asked.

Kahn shook his head. "No. You need to get back to the hot springs, now, before you catch hypothermia. That'll be all. DIS-MISSED!"

"""YESSIR!""" We snapped our badges shut and looked at each other. "Well, you don't need to tell me twice," said Hunter, and he bolted off. We were quick to persue.

We got back to the springs quickly and managed to avoid serious damage to ourselves from the cold. We warmed up in our rooms, however, before we let Ash and the others talk to us.

"How'd it go?" asked Dawn, worried look on her face.

"Are they okay?" Brock asked, same look on his face.

"Did it all work out?" Ash asked, looking worried, as well.

We nodded, smiling, and they sighed in relief. "Fritz was able to say he was sorry to Kelly, and Kelly forgave him. As a bonus, she won first place in the National Art Show with a painting she and Fritz did together, I think with her doing most of the actual artwork while Fritz worked on writing a message on the top of it," I summarized.

Ash smiled with a relieved look on his face. "I was worried that you might suddenly turn into a jerk midway through or something, to tell you the truth, Lock," he confessed.

I sweatdropped. "Yeah, I understand," I said, holding my hands up. "But I was too focused on the situation to think about myself. I swear."

"We did great," Hunter said, smiling. "You led us with your usual quality."

"In other words, high quality," Meyers said. "Great idea in stretching that solo at the end, too. Really made it all turn out better, I think."

I blushed and rubbed the back of my head. "Now, now, guys," I warned, "let's not go making my head any bigger..."

They all laughed at that. I laughed nervously, though. 'I could start acting snarky at any time,' I knew. 'But...' I shook my head. 'I can't let that dampen my mood. That just leads to nothing but bad news. I have to enjoy the fact we did a great job and helped things work out.' I smiled, looking up a bit at the ceiling.

-- -- --

HaWHOOOF!! FINALLY got THAT outta the way with!! I've been dreading this chapter since I started this fanfiction last summer. I'm just so glad it's OVER, at LAST! Now we can get back to the good stuff!! Well...at least we can get back to the more-silly stuff; nobody said anything about this being it in terms of intense moments. And I hope I didn't reveal too much...Also, I wonder how one could make an acceptable rose single-line design for the ending scene? The sad stage always ends with a shaped slide marker (phrase marker, if you're technical). First it was a heart, then a star, then a figure eight. How can a rose be done here? Maybe it should just be a pallette...palette...erm...Oh, phooey!


	23. Without a Fight

(23)( ) (Night) (of) (Destiny)

((Author's Note: I was debating between the song I'm going to use and DragonForce's "Through the Fire and the Flames", but I just realized that this is an extra side-story that wouldn't be played if this fiction were to be a real EBA game, as well as the fact that, while TtFatF talks about fantasy warriors fighting a fierce battle, these guys are rookies--they would most likely choose a song that is more apparantly energetic. But, this is the song I had in mind to begin with, so it ain't THAT bad for me. Besides, we know this one, and how much it gets you pumped--it's a pity we couldn't get the full version. This would fix that problem, however u.n))

The afternoon sun blazed down on the lawn in back of the out-of-the-way Monkshood residence. Travis, Frank, and Dorian were busy practicing their routine. They had picked out a song after surfing the web for some good, high-energy ones that fit the situation that Travis' family might be in. They had gained a lot more confidence in their abilities after performing Let Loose a few days ago and were able to call up the stylish moves from memory after focusing together on the song. (Whenever they practiced, they would summon the song from nowhere a la the Ouendan (the EBA use their badges) and were capable of stopping and starting it again at different places and slowing it down for practice.) Travis's parents realized, with worried faces, what they were trying to do. They couldn't hear the music or feel anything, but they could still see their moves and how hard they were working. Today, they were watching from a window on the back porch as the three did their hard moves to the bridge.

"Yeah, that's it, that's it! Looks perfect!" clapped Zante. He had decided to stay and help any way he could, camping out in the forest and living off of berries from the surrounding trees. Travis' parents welcomed him after he introduced himself and explained that he wanted to teach Yena how to speak human language (which, though a cover-up, was true, nonetheless; Yena was picking it up alright). He was currently watching from the sidelines with everyone else (Coaty and Yena), seeing as he didn't want to face the consequences of being a target (intentional or not) again. Vesp was wrapped around him again and was happy that her boyfriend was happy and that the wannabe Agents were doing well.

The trio transitioned into their chorus dance and stopped, the music (heard by themselves and the ones on the sidelines) fading out. Travis nodded, smiling. "Thank you," he said. "I think we've got it, too." He looked a bit nervous, though, as he walked over.

Yena frowned, noticing this. "Travis?" he asked, looking up at his friend. "What's up?"

Travis sighed as the three stopped by the pokémon. "It's..." He looked away, looking towards the house. He raised his eyebrows and turned his upper body a little when he saw his parents walking towards him. "Mom? Dad? What's up?" he asked, surprised and trying to sound like everything was normal.

His parents stopped by him, looking a bit serious. "We've been seeing what you're doing, Travis," said his father. "And we know what you're trying to do."

"Oh! So you know about a dance competition that's going to happen soon in town?" asked Travis, acting pleasant surprise.

They didn't buy it, though, as evident by their flat looks and head shakes. "Travis," his mother said, "please. We don't need any help. We don't want you to get hurt trying to be Agents in place of the real ones."

The three humans started and sweatdropped, getting the "busted" look. "Please, give up," Mr. Monkshood asked. "It's useless. You can't stop fate. Right now, all you're doing is wasting your time and energy."

They all stood silent for a moment, then Travis' parents turned and left into the house solemnly. Travis stood, frowning tightly while clenching a fist. "We're not giving up," he said under his breath. "We're gonna see to it that you guys aren't gonna go down--at least, not without a fight."

Zante put an unclawed paw on his arm, which was shaking. Travis started a bit and looked over and down. Zante gave a confident, comforting smile, Vesp doing the same over his shoulder. "I know you're nervous," he said softly. "I mean, hey, tonight's the big game--the full moon's going to be shining down on us all and the party's gonna unfold however it does. You're doing all the stuff you can to help right now--but remember to rest before the performance."

Travis frowned a little in defeat and nodded. "I know," he said. "It's just...I'm still not completely sure that we can do it..."

"Well, duh," Dorian said, shrugging and giving a half smile. "As a coordinator, I'm always a little doubtful I'll pull off the contest beforehand. It's just the way things are. You get one chance to do something big and you either win or lose. There's nothing you can do to make it so that you're 100-percent certain to win, only so that you're anything under, from 99.99-percent to .01-percent." He patted Travis's shoulder. "That thing's practice. And with as much as we've done, all we've got to get out of our systems is stage fright. Me and Frank aren't afraid of the stage."

"And you're not gonna be, either," Frank added, smirking. "I mean, hey, if you are, then buh-bye Mr. and Mrs. Monkshood, right?"

Travis gulped and nodded. "I...I know," he said. "I guess that the only thing we can do is the best we damn well can."

"Bingo!" said Zante, pointing a claw at him and wink-grinning. "And you're pretty much set to do that: You've practiced your asses off with the dancing and singing parts, and, Travis, you've talked with Jet and you're both ready to give it your all to try and let you guys all get into one of your family members' heads to cheer if you have to while they're fighting, if staying outside won't work--with three werewolves flying around and nearly killing you and weird curses around and potentially messing up the transfer of energy, you know." He crossed his arms and nodded. "Not to mention that the song you guys've chosen is great--it's high-energy and it fits. You're gonna do it, I know it!" He gave them a thumbs-up.

"Yeah! Just rest up and things are going to be fine!" Yena said, wagging his tail. "We'll all watch your backs while you're cheering if you need it!"

Travis, Frank, and Dorian smiled at them and bowed. "Thank you, guys," Travis said. "Thank you."

"Right, right..." The camera panned up as Zante spoke. "Now, go on, get some rest and try not to think about it. The full moon's tonight. It's do-or-die, so get y'kiesters to rechargin' your batteries, already."

- - -

All of the Agents and Divas in the real world were watching on a big screen made of most of the screens in a room in headquarters that had a HUGE floor-to-ceiling tv set. (Where was this set? A living room-like area. Why was it there? Because the Divas said so.) Originally, it was just Missy and Starr who were watching Pokémon on the couch, but then J walked in right when it was implied that that night was the night of the big werewolf life-or-death battle that they had been expecting (he had a feeling after seeing Travis's face when he had walked over to his friends). He had been walking through to get his friends something while they were busy playing cards (skivving from their duty to watch the show and moniter their fellow Agents) and sat down on the couch instantly after he saw the scene. The other Agents soon followed, one after the other, to see what was taking him, and saw what was going on and sat down, as well, going to a chair and another couch. Foxx came in after noticing the volume had turned up on the big tv to say to turn it down. (She had been working hard on finding a way to their world on her laptop a couple rooms away, looking up to watch the show half-heartedly and very occasionally.) When she saw the scene, she sat down, too, turning off the lights as she squeezed in between J and her fellow Divas, J soon getting up and going to join the backups. Commander Kahn was busy watching from his office, the breifing room.

The commercials came on, then, and everyone looked at each other (barring all-alone Kahn, of course), eyebrows raised. "You think they can do it?" asked Missy worriedly.

"I hope they can," J answered.

"They had better," Starr said, crossing her arms. "I don't want another tear-jerker like last time."

"You guys all saw what they did to Zante, though," Derek reminded them. "If what Foxx and the Commander say is true, they generated a helluva lot of energy in him."

"And he was just an unintentional target," added Morris, holding up a finger. "Think what'll happen when they're doin' their thing fo' real."

"Scary thought," Foxx commented. "Let's also consider the fact the lead in this little squad of theirs can match up to Chieftan in rhythmic potential."

Chieftan crossed his arms from his chair. "If those same spirits who attacked Lock and the others are at work here," he said, "then I'm pretty sure that we're about to get a few more answers, or at least some clues."

The show came back on after everyone nodded in agreement at that comment. They shushed each other and, except for Chieftan, leaned forwards a bit to watch the huge tv screen.

In his room, Kahn watched with steepled fingers. "Good luck," he said, as if addressing one of his Agents. He stood and pointed. "GO!!"

- - -

Night had at last arrived. Travis, Frank, and Dorian were in the forest, busy putting the final touches on their preparation. Each were dressed in a light grey button-up long sleeve shirt and a black necktie that Travis had in his closet. They wore jeans and sneakers because the slacks Travis had wouldn't let them spread their legs far when doing certain moves and because he didn't have more than one pair of nice shoes. They each, however, had one finishing touch to add along with a cordless mic that they had bought from the store the day before, and they all provided their own for this.

On Dorian's glasses went a pair of clip-on shades.

Before Frank's eyes went a pair of classic bad-boy triangle shades (triangles not being as long as the triangles that formed Chieftan's shades, though one point on each was a bit longer than the others).

Over Travis's muzzle went a pair of green-rimmed, futuristic, rectangle-slit-like-lensed shades.

Zante, Vesp, Coaty, and Yena looked at them, the first crossing his arms, and nodded, smirking a bit. The overweight pokémon gave them a thumbs-up. "Knock 'em dead."

The three nodded and turned around, walking to their place undercover to watch their targets (Travis going barefoot, since no shoe in existence (to his knowledge) could fit his big werewolf feet). Travis's heart was pounding, and he was worried that they might hear it. 'We can do it,' he told himself.

'Good luck,' bade Jet from inside his mind.

Travis nodded minutely and continued to watch.

- - - - -

The full moon rose above the Earth, hidden by huge clouds. Outside on the lawn were Travis's parents, sitting side-by-side on lawn chairs and watching the bright spot in the clouds where the moon was.

(Antonio Monkshood, 38, Werewolf)

(Lenore Monkshood, 37, Werewolf)

Antonio sighed and put a hand on top of Lenore's. "Tonight's the night," he said quietly. "Are you ready?"

Lenore nodded her head, a tear going down her cheek from her eyes. "Yeah," she said. "I have to be..." They both looked up at the moon again.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

A hole opened up in the clouds. The full moon shone down on the world, bathing it in its reflected light. As soon as they saw it, Antonio and Lenore froze. The transformation began.

Up in his room, Travis's brother heard the twin howls and woke up. "Huh?" he muttered sleepily.

(Johnny Monkshood, 11, Werewolf)

He leaned over in his bed and looked down outside his window and saw his parents transforming. He gulped. "Oh, they're just transforming..." he muttered. He shut his eyes and fell back into his bed. "Just have to make sure I don't look at the moon...Go back to sleep..." He let his head flop in the direction of the window.

A will-o-wisp sort of spirit, flaming all around, appeared in front of his window and whacked it smartly. It didn't break, but made a loud CLAK! sound.

Johnny gasped and opened his eyes, jumping back just a little, head tilting up just enough...He, too, froze as his eyes met the full moon. As soon as he had, the clouds started to slowly cover up the hole that the moon peeked out of.

In a circle around the entire house appeared those will-o-wisp spirits. Another appeared around Travis's parents, who were starting to dash off. The ring around them prevented them from moving far, however...

Inside each of their heads, they groaned and stood up, transformed into their wolf forms, as well, as they found themselves in the familiar arena of their minds. "Uhhhn..." Antonio growled, rubbing his head. "I always hate doing that..."

"Antonio?!"

Antonio turned his head to the side. "Huh?" he went. He bugged his eyes in surprise. "Lenore?! What are YOU doing in MY mind?!" he asked in surprise.

"I was about to ask YOU the same thing!" Lenore replied.

Both froze as they heard the growling. The BIG growling. They turned their heads to the side and gaped as they slowly looked up.

Towering before each of them was a werewolf that could put their whole house in its maw and crunch it for supper. They poured drool like waterfalls as they stared with maniacal, glowing red eyes. The white parts of their fur were now like flames as they radiated pure evil power. They gave them such hungry, excited looks that both werewolves knew:

""They're going to kill us...""

"And not just that," said a voice.

""Huh?!"" The Monkshood parents whipped around and gasped as they saw a figure in a black cloak and hood standing in the grass through the windows of their eyes. It stood with its arms loosely crossed. ""YOU!!""

"Yes," the figure said. Its voice sounded empty and almost deadpan, with a hint of a businesslike manner. "You recall me. You also have attempted to foil me. Pity." He turned around. "I conducted a breif experiment in my mind with a hypothesis concerning resistance. The best result I have come up with was to take matters more seriously. Should you live and resist long enough to inform others of my laboratory, life will be so much more difficult for me. Therefore, I have decided to take care of both you two..." He looked over his shoulder as a crash signified a crazed, young werewolf jumping out of his window. "...and the kin that I can. Your eldest son will be sorry he could not join you in the neverending darkness you are now destined for. Enjoy." He began walking away as he said this. Before anyone could do anything, he had disappeared in a strange, oval portal of darkness, thorny, flat vines swirling around him as he left.

Johnny, in his werewolf form, wasn't as hugely muscled as the two older male family members, but he was still ripped for an eleven-year-old. His pajamas, which were a classic flannel pants and button-up (though they were short-legged and -sleeved for the summer months that they currently were in), were still relatively intact, but his shirt was open. He was seething and ready to go, like his parents, but even if he tried, the larger "fence" of evil spirits around the house would prevent him from exiting the premisis.

In their oddly-shared minds, Antonio and Lenore gasped and reached out to their son. "NO!" Antonio cried.

"JOHNNY!!" Lenore howled.

Suddenly, both were slammed from behind by huge paws. They went flat against the window, a la those Garfield suction cup things you see on car rear windows. They slowly slid down and hit the "floor". They remained there, twitching, as their beasts loomed, bathing them in saliva. The image of their son trapped against the wall of his mind with a look of horror as a smaller, but still very fearsome, beast grinned at him, pouring drool as well, came to them.

'No...I can't believe it...' Antonio thought.

'This is the end...Travis...can't even help Johnny, now...' Lenore thought.

'I'm gonna die,' thought Johnny.

All three, with the parents struggling up, quivered as they felt their confidence plummet away, quavered as their death drenched their minds with their vile slobber and stared at them hungrily. Then, all three couldn't take it. Throwing their heads up, they howled,

**"""HHEEAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLP!!"""**

- - - - -

Travis was in a bind, himself. 'Who do I help first?!' he thought. He looked at his brother, racing around the ring about them (which the three watcing were, fortunately, inside) and skidding whenever he met an evil spirit and darting away again, then at his parents, growling at their prison. He looked back at his friends, who were a bit scared, themselves, gulped and nodded. "Alright, guys," he said. Facing them, he stood up and held a fist bravely. "We can't be scared! We can't lose confidence!!" He pointed at the scene behind him. "We have to do this NOW!!"

Frank and Dorian gulped and nodded. They stood up, too, and all three took a deep breath together.

'''Loosen up, calm down, breathe in, chill out,''' they remembered together. Then, turning around to the scene, they nodded together. "First is my brother, so we can get to my parents," Travis said quickly. "My parents should be able to handle themselves until we can at least keep Johnny's beast down for a moment."

"Right," Frank said, nodding.

"Let's do it!" Dorian said, clenching a fist.

"Alright, then, let's GO!!" cried Travis, and the three jumped out.

As the song began to play, the Agents gaped at their selection.

Kahn's shades slipped down his nose a little as his eyes widened. "Of all the songs..." he muttered.

-:-:-

(-)(Instrumental)

(-)WHOOOOO!

(-)(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

(-)(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

(-)(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

(-)WHOOOOO!(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

Three shadows jumped out of the trees and landed in the middle of the yard, in sight of both the parents and the brother. Travis just gave a double thumbs-up, crossing his arms so that the two at the ends of the 120-degree angle the three parties made could see him without his arms getting in the way of his friends, because he was not an official Agent--thus, no badge. "The Substitute Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" he announced confidently, grinning a wolfish grin.

**-:-MISSION: Lycantastrophy! Fight For Your Lives!!-:-**

Travis continued, "Mom, Dad, Johnny, hang in there! We're here to help you whether you want it or not!" They dived out of the way, Travis jumping straight up, before Johnny could get them and quickly regrouped in the same spot, with each backup side-jumping into position from their sides and Travis falling from above in the center again. Facing Johnny and Travis's parents both (the middle of the angle they now made), they began their wave.

In their minds, all three were worried with their beasts. Antonio and Lenore were more worried about their son, however. "Travis..." Lenore whispered while she ran from another attack.

"...Help your brother, not us..." Antonio grunted, grappling with his beast's paw.

Johnny ducked a swipe. "SOMEONE HELP ME!!" he yipped loudly.

They were in a bad sort, but suddenly, they did something so strange, it made their beasts pause a moment in confusion. Feeling the energy, the werewolves couldn't help but begin to sway along with the Agents, smiling happily.

"""WHOOOOOOO!!"""

The wannabe Agents stopped the wave and got started. """Are you ready?...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

-Wake up, our life is calling!

-We're smoke, but not a fire!

-Give us a sign that we're alive

-Snap out of indecision!

-Have we been hypnotized

-To think that everything's alright?!

Every single Agent and person who endured the horrible Rhombulan invasion and remembered it enough dropped their jaws as the three, able to be outside, began doing the exact same sort of moves--though with their own style--that Cheiftan had done. (When the Agents were called upon, while we saw only one Agent with Morris and Derek or the Divas come out, what happened was that the rest came, too (minus Kahn), cheering on their own without Morris and Derek. Morris and Derek followed first Spin, then J, then Cheiftan before everyone got zapified.) They had the same directional emphasizing and rhythm. This also told something about the three and how hard they worked, as well as how talented they were. Cheiftan himself was just speechless. 'WHAT THE--?!'

Meanwhile, back to our show...

At first, as standard, Johnny (who was the main target this time) was doing moderately well. He was, with a fearful face, dodging and dodging attacks, never getting a chance to retaliate as he ducked, swayed, jumped, and dashed. Then, for a very brief, heartstopping moment, he was getting squeezed tightly in the jaws of the beast. However, he was able to break free quickly and dodge again before he somehow found the drive in himself to fight back. When he did, it was another extreme. From becoming a chew toy, he became a whirlwind of claws, fangs, and other attacks as he leapt up and began attacking the beast DBZ style, somehow floating in midair and even zipping aside whenever he got snapped at or clawed and continuing the assault.

Johnny skidded on the "floor" of the arena of his mind, snarling and wincing as he held his arm. "Alright, you mutt," he growled, "I've had about enough of this...It's high time we end this!!"

The beast just growled back, drool hanging out in thickening ropes as he contemplated his dinner.

The two dashed at each other, claws and fangs bared and open. Then, a clash flashed out everything before the two stood still, both waiting samurai style in their finishing poses (Johnny with a claw outstreached and the beast with his fangs shut).

Then, the great beast fell with a slam and faded out of existance. Johnny turned and gasped in amazement. "HOLY--!!"

In the outside world, Johnny skidded to a halt and smirked as he stood up and made a muscle. "Aw, yeah, talk about stronger than I thought!" he laughed, patting the lump on his sleeve. Travis, looking on, breathed a sigh of relief.

**--(O)--**

(-)(The clock is counting down)

(-)The clock is counting down

(-)(The seconds, they tick away)

(-)The seconds tick away

Antonio and Lenore let out howls of pain as their backs were slammed against the window looking outside. They grunted and looked up at the shadows looming over them. "This...doesn't look good..." Antonio growled.

"Not really..." his wife agreed.

(This time, Travis and his friends warped inside of their shared conciousness to do the chorus.)

-This is our time

-Without a doubt!

-Time to ignite!

-We're not going down

-(Without a fight)

-This is our time!

-Get up off the ground!

-Take what is mine!

-We're not going down

-Without a fight!

Their chorus dance was the exact same, too, but a lot more high-energy (I thought the go-on-butt-and-kick-up-legs-and-get-back-up part was S-L-O-W-!). J and Cheiftan looked at each other. "This is insane," J said.

"I think 'surreal' is a better word," Cheiftan commented.

At first, Antonio and Lenore were doing AWESOME. They waited until the two beasts charged, then disappeared in a blur and caused the beasts to CRRAACK!! their skulls together (making anime silly-tears as they did). Then, they would reappear in another blur and start whailing on the heads, too, for a few moments before the beasts would throw them off and jump back. The Monkshood parents would land, back to back, in the center again, and the process would repeat itself. However, a little in, they lost their momentum and were stuck with dodging blows individually, occasionally getting a good jumping kick in on their chests before narrowly avoiding a snap by oversized jaws coming for their falling forms. Then, for a split second, both were being pinned against the floor, each struggling to hold up a pair of jaws before they snapped their heads off like a pair of scissors (ooogh, weird feeling in my mouth there...). Drool poured onto them from the anticipation-filled beasts' mouthes. Nobody, watching or participating, had ever seen so much saliva in their lives. Then, they were able to get back to dodging and hitting.

Antonio and Lenore stood, panting, against the wall while their beasts charged forwards again. "There's no way we can let ourselves die, now!" Lenore growled.

"NOW! For our FAMILY!!" roared Antonio.

Together, the two dashed towards their beasts and continued. They assailed their foes in their own ways. When a great paw came down to stomp them, Lenore dodged to the side while Antonio, muscles bulging nearly grossly, grabbed the paw coming down at him and stopping it above his head. Then, Lenore jumped up and dashed around the entire body of her beast in a flurry of attacks, being nothing more but a blur zipping around her body as the beast howled in agony. At the same time, Antonio, with a mighty roar and the paw in his own paws, jumped and slammed his entire beast over his shoulder onto the floor, making a gigantic crater.

The two then landed their finishing moves at the same time, flying at the faces of their adversaries. Antonio fell and gave a punch that could level his own house with the energy he felt from his emotions. Lenore jumped up and landed a huge, graceful axe kick right between the eyes of her beast. Both heads slammed into the floor at the same time, and it was as if they were made of pottery. From the point of impact, they shattered away along their bodies, fading off into nothingness.

Antonio landed a bit sooner than his wife. Both smiled in amazed joy. ""OH, YEAH!!"" they cried together.

In the waking world, both wolves jumped out of the ring of spirits, landed, stood, and wiped their mouthes (they had been drooling a lot thanks to their beasts). "I swear, I'll never be able to look at drool without yarking ever again," Lenore grumbled.

"I hear ya," agreed her husband.

Both of their sons (Travis and co. had been kicked out when their parents awakened) leapt for joy and barked in victory.

**--(O)--**

(-)(Slightly extended instrumental)

(-)Let's go, the curtain's opened!

(-)Get this show on the road!

(-)I wanna feel my heart explode!

Lenore dashed inside the house while the boys turned to the will-o-wisp infestation. Johnny whined uneasily. "Do we have enough salt to deal with these guys?" he asked.

"Not using salt," Antonio said, smirking.

Lenore dashed out, holding up four pieces of paper in her paws with a triumphant look on her face. "I KNEW that splurging and getting super-strong Clense Tags was a great idea!" she squealed in glee.

(Travis and his friends began waving again, though, after Travis shook his head at his mother.)

-No more procrastination!

-Dragging my feet below!

-Now I want everyone to know:

-(Clock is counting down)

-The clock is counting down

-(The seconds, they tick away)

-The seconds tick away

-This is our time

-Without a doubt!

-Time to ignite!

-We're not going down

-(Without a fight)

-This is our time!

-Get up off the ground!

-Take what is mine!

-We're not going down

-Without a fight!

At first, the three, each having one Clense Tag with them and enabling them to hit the enemies, were doing moderately. The will-o-wisps came at them, having grown arms of flame and burning eyes. Each one of the werewolves were in a loose triangle, backs turned to each other while fighting them off as they came at them, kicking, clawing, or biting and throwing away. They were going pretty slowly as they fought defensively, but they were making progress. Then, they were aggressively attacking, running around beating them off. Antonio used his impressive strength and clobbered them, defeating them with the good ol' one-two or in one hit by launching an amazing kick. Lenore used her slender, more agile form to dodge away and launch fast slashing combos with difficult finishing moves. Johnny used a lot of aerial moves and throws, using his amazing, unique ability to act like a Keyblader and remain in midair as long as he kept using attacks. He would uppercut a spirit, grab it and throw it up, jump, launch a few rapid hits, then grab it and slam it down again, defeating it as it hit the ground and landing soon afterwards. Then, something weird happened and the three lost their rhythm (the lycanthropes, not the ones singing and dancing, nessisarilly) and were suddenly seen racing around wildly, fur aflame from the will-o-wisps, who hovered and looked at them as if they were laughing. Then, quickly, they got their mojo back and were whupping ectoplasm again.

Antonio, Lenore, and Johnny stood in a circle again, looking at the evil spirits, whose number suddenly increased, that circled before them and at each other.

"There's too many of them!" Johnny whined.

"Is there any way we can get them all at once...?" wondered Lenore.

"I dunno, but--" Antonio stopped and gasped, the other three getting the same idea. """!""" They looked to each other, nodded, and started to gather moonlight to their bodies. "Get..." began Antonio. His fur began glowing silver.

"...out..." continued Johnny. The Clense Tag sticking out of his shorts pocket began glowing white.

"...of our..." added Lenore. Her eyes began to glow silver.

Then, holding their paws up in front of them, fur now glowing white, they blasted a beam of white light--not silver--all around them, finishing, """...LIVES!!""" They ran a circle around each other, going in the same direction.

Every spirit they hit with the moonlight vaporized instantly. When they finished, they looked around them, seeing nothing. Lenore and Antonio closed their eyes for a moment. They grinned and opened them again. "They're gone!" announced Antoino.

"There's not a trace of them left!" cheered Lenore.

Johnny jumped for joy. "OH, YEAH! WE JUST TOTALLY KICKED THEIR ETHEREAL BUTTS!!" he barked loudly.

**--(O)--**

(-)YEAH!

(-)C'MON, C'MON, C'MON!

(-)C'MON, C'MON, C'MON!

A moment later, however, they became aware of another presence. "Huh?" Antonio grunted, turning around. He gasped. "No...!"

The cloaked man was standing there. "Yes," he said. He thrust an arm out to not them, but to Travis, Frank, and Dorian, who started and sweatdropped as a light started forming in the open palm. They tried to run, but, oddly, a bunch of strong paper tied their feet to the ground. Also, they couldn't move, because, from the trees, strips of more strong paper came and grabbed at them. The figure said, "I've only got this one chance to take care of you once and for all before I MUST get back to my work, so I'll just take the biggest blow I can. My pet can take care of the rest afterwards."

Meanwhile, the wind began to blow hard as rain started to fall. Lenore, who had been holding onto both her Clense Tag and the extra, fourth one, opened her paw out to the figure. "NO!!" she cried out to him, running towards him. This paw was the one that held the fourth Clense Tag, which fluttered away with the wind. It flew into the trees and out of sight. Lenore, though, slammed against a barrier that the figure had around him and was knocked back.

The light finished forming in the figure's hand, and, oddly, it took the shape of what was unmistakably a giant pencil, complete with one of those wedge-shaped eraser heads. He launched it and opened the portal behind him. "Good-bye," he bade flatly as he stepped back into it and vanished.

"""NOOO!!""" cried Travis's family as the pencil speared towards the trio, splitting into three smaller ones, each as big as a normal pencil (albiet VERY sharp) as they aimed for their hearts. Travis and his friends tried to escape or move out of the way, but couldn't. Everyone squeezed their eyes shut before impact.

POW!!

They opened their eyes and saw, of all people, Yena standing there. He had a Clense Tag tied around his foot and was panting hard. The three pencils of energy were in his maw when he growled. Snapping them and dispersing their light, he barked, "You've still got to finish out, guys!!" He jumped and slashed at the paper binding the three while everyone made "Huh?"-type sounds.

Everyone looked at the spot where the figure had vanished. A GIGANTIC demonic beast, like the one that had attacked Lock and friends, was floating there. Again making me wish for a Gothic-like font (you know the one--the O's are all circles with plus signs in them), it roared, "JUST GIVE UP AND DIE, ALREADY!!"

Everyone cringed a little, but Travis suddenly got what Yena meant. He nodded to his companions. "Let's finish out!" he said, grinning and holding up a fist in determination.

-We must pick up the pace!

-No time to play it safe!

-Before you know it's much too late!!

-This is our time

-Without a doubt!

-Time to ignite!

-We're not going down

-(Without a fight)

-This is our time!

-Get up off the ground!

-Take what is mine!

-We're not going down

-Without a fight!

Some people who had experienced the Rhombulan invasion's repulsion first-hand leaned in to see what the three "Agents" would do now that they weren't going to be turned to stone.

At first, everyone was doing awesome. Yena, powered up using his Super Cleanse tag, was able to hit and cause damage and was being brave enough to do it. He was fighting with bites and slashes and even a good Thunder Fang attack now and then(he could actually use that attack perfectly, which had foiled Frank's prinplup before in a friendly battle). The others were fighting with their own styles, too: Antonio with his powerful punches and kicks, Lenore with her speed and natural weapons, and Johnny with his proficiency in aerial attacks, all three enhancing their attacks with white moonlight. The demon was helpless as it was attacked by one lupine form after another. Suddenly, the demon got the upper hand and was flaming everyone in sight, the wolves doing all they can to dodge the blasts of hellish fire(think last two stages of Ouendan 2 after a Miss or 50). Just as suddenly, though, the battle became a stalemate, with the four fighters dodging attacks and launching blasts of moonlight or a Thundershock (another move that Yena was able to use perfectly), hitting. Then, as soon as Travis and the others started back into the chorus one last time, the fight went back into the good guys' favor and never left it again while the song went to its close.

The demon grunted as it skidded across the ground. "N...NO! I REFUSE TO LOSE TO A BUNCH OF MANGEY MUTTS!!" it roared.

The wolves walked forward, all of them--even Yena--glowing white. "Sorry to rain on your parade, then," growled Antonio, raising up his paws to the sky.

"For your information, we're WOLVES, not mutts!" barked Johnny, raising his paws up, too.

"There's no way that we're going to let you harm our family!" Lenore cried, doing the same.

A fourth pair of paws came, but this pair was big, black, and surrounded by roaring, unburning flames. They came down on the ground in front of the four. Their owner was a growling, powerful-looking Yena, now a mightyena. "And there's no way that I'M gonna let you harm my FRIEND!!" he roared in human.

The four howled and sent a burst of light and flame to the heavens. The clouds above them glowed white, saturated with power. The demon looked up at the rainclouds. "NO...NO!!" It tried to run, but was too late. The rain of enhanced moonlight surrounded by a different sort of flame than its own was inescapable. As it was pelted, it melted, roaring, "NOOOOO!!" with a hellish voice. Then, finally, moments before the song ended, it exploded apart into nothingness mid-melt.

The parents closed their eyes for a moment before reopening them. "It's totally gone," said Antonio calmly.

They waited for a few seconds. Nobody stopped their illuminating while they did.

"..." was all that was said while they waited. The rain fell around them and made their gentle, omnipresent-when-outside pattering on the ground, trees, and house.

Then, everyone (except the three "Agents") jumped and howled in victory, """"WE'RE SAAAAFE!!"""" They all stopped glowing or flaming, the light fading away.

Travis's family gazed in wonder at their wet bodies. "I can't believe it," Antonio breathed.

"We...We could all use moonlight!" gasped Lenore.

"Does this...Does this mean we...?" began Johnny in hushed wonder, looking up at his parents.

They all looked at each other, then smiles began wavering on their faces and tears began to form in their eyes. Hugging one another, they happily yelled, """WE DEFEATED OUR BEASTS FOR GOOD!! NOW WE DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING AT ALL!!""" They cried in joy and hugged each other, wagging their tails.

"We don't need to worry about that awful man for awhile, as long as he doesn't come back and check on us," exampled Antonio thankfully.

"We don't need to worry about accidentially spreading the curse around when under the control of the beast!" Lenore jubilantly proclaimed.

"We don't need to worry about getting KILLED by the beast!!" Johnny squealed excitedly. "And we get to transform into these cool bodies anytime we want!!" he added, grinning at the muscle he made that he knew he could never get in human form.

Yena sat and smiled at them, watching. "That's great," he said softly. He tilted his head and eyes-closed-smiled. "I'm so glad that you guys are happy! Now you can all have fun, like Travis!"

Everyone yipped and looked up. """Travis!""" They turned their heads around and looked around for him. He was gone. Surprised, Yena ran off to look for him. His parents smiled, though. "It worked," Antonio said. "I can't believe it...it actually worked."

"He saved our lives," Johnny said slowly.

"No, Johnny," said Lenore, smiling at her son. "WE saved our OWN lives. All your big brother did was lend a paw." She put a claw on her son's fluffy chest. "Everything came out well thanks to these."

"Our hearts..." Johnny said in wonder, looking down at it. He grinned. "Yeah, thanks, Heart! Now we can all have cool adventures like Travis can!" he barked enthusiastically. His parents laughed.

(-)(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

(-)(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

(-)(FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

(-)WHOOOOOOOOOOO-OOO-HOOO! (FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!)

(-)(Hehahahahahaha...)

- - -

One night in the future, the three were in wolf form, sitting at the table and enjoying a good board game together. Johnny was moving a piece of his, Lenore was holding a hand of cards while looking at him and smiling, saying something, and Antonio was drinking some tea while he had his hand (of cards) on the table.

-:-:-

But right now, Travis, Frank, and Dorian were in the forest again, arms crossed as they walked off. Travis was crying silently. Frank and Dorian were sweating. All three were smiling. "We did it," Frank said quitly, voice a little shaky from the rush.

"We actually did it," Dorian said, voice the same way.

Travis whimpered a bit before bowing his head and shaking it. "They're safe...They're safe..." he whispered. His friends patted his shoulders as he stood there, crying in happiness and relief.

"You guys were AWESOME!!" said Zante, rushing over to them. He was grinning from ear to ear despite being soaked by the rain. Vesp was, apparantly, enjoying the precipitation. Zante shook his fists, holding his arms to his sides, excited. "A few slip-ups here and there, but it was still spectacular! You sang, you danced, and you CHEERED YOUR HEARTS OUT!!" He laughed in amazement. "Great job, everyone. Great job. And congrats on saving your family, Travis," he added in a softer tone, giving him a thumbs-up.

Travis smiled, looking up, and shook his head. "No," he said. "It's like Mom just said--we only helped. They did the saving."

"But still, I feel like we should give some sort of recognition," Dorian said, brow furrowed as he crossed his arms.

"Well, I think I remember hearing the Agents shouting something about a mission in the forest by us when we were laughing way back during that night," Frank said, looking up with a finger to his chin in thoughtfulness.

Travis smirked and chuckled. "Well, then..." he said, and the three stood straight.

In the EBA world, Kahn couldn't help but stand up and give them the thumbs-up. "YEEEAAHHH!!"

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

(...)

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

(...)

TEUUSHH!!

- - - - -

- - - -

- - -

- -

-

Travis, Frank, and Dorian blinked for a second before laughing at the concept of it being a mission. "Well," Travis said, "I guess it WAS a mission, if you think about it!" They also felt a bit of relief. Mission Complete. They were finished. It was all good. Dorian noticed this aloud.

Zante nodded, arms crossed. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "It DOES give you a sense of accomplishment."

"Travis? Travis?"

The group turned and saw the mightyena walk into the woods to them. He looked around and gasp-smiled as he saw Travis. "Travis!" he said, rushing forwards to his friend.

Travis raised his eyebrows as he knelt down a bit to him. "Is that YOU, Yena?" he chucklingly asked in disbelief.

Yena nodded. "Yup! I can't believe it, either," he said. "I guess I just evolved in order to protect you. Or, it might be because you were cheering me, too, at the end. Either way, I wouldn't stand by and just let that thing go!"

Travis smiled that "Awww, thanks!" smile and hugged his friend. "Aw, that's so nice of you!" he said. "Thanks so much for helping my family like that!" He stood up again. "And, though not as importantly, thanks for saving our lives. I thought I was a goner!" He held a paw to his chest and sighed in relief. "Phew!"

"Yeah," Frank agreed, him and Dorian doing the same gesture. "Talk about a way to go: 'Death by weird pencils of energy shot by some guy in a cloak,'" he said in a mock-deep voice, putting his hands out as if imagining a headline or something.

Dorian chuckled and nodded. "Tell me about it," he said. "If it weren't for Yena, we'd have almost literally eaten lead!"

Yena blushed. "Awr, I was just doing what I felt was right," he dismissed it. He looked up at his friend and wagged his tail. "But you did GREAT! They're so happy!" he told Travis. "You should be proud of yoursleves!"

Travis put a paw on the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile. "Heh, thanks, but I'm more happy than proud," he said. "I just tried my best to help them try their best...and I couldn't have done it without you guys, all of you," he said, looking at everyone--including Coaty, who had just flown over--around him and smiling. "Yena, you went out with Coaty and found Zante and Vesp, and Zante, you helped us discover how to do what the Agents do! But Frank, Dorian, I know this never could have happened without you two," he said, walking over to his two human friends. "You guys put up with me and my begging and the failures during our first day of practice and followed through to the end!" He hugged them both tightly. "Thank you SO much!!"

His friends were turning blue in the face already. "Great, no problem, Trav," Frank gagged.

"But, ah, you're going to kill us," Dorian put it flatly.

Travis yipped and released them quickly, blushing and sweatdropping. "Sorry about that, guys!" he apologized, smiling sheepishly. "I'm just so grateful!"

"Well, that's cool, and all," Zante said, the group turning to him, "but why don't you all hurry up and change back into your normal clothes and let's all head in before we get soaked to the bone?" He tilted his head at this suggestion. "I mean, hey, wet dog SERIOUSLY stinks, so..."

The others sweatdropped and nodded. """Sounds like a plan,""" Travis, Frank, and Dorian said before they scrambled to change back into their normal outfits (mainly just shirts for the humans, since werewolf Travis normally went around shirtless, anyway) and everyone raced from the forest to the house. They took off their shoes and socks and Travis had to wipe his feet clean with his button-up shirt so that he didn't track mud inside. He then had a problem: He was dripping wet and he didn't want to shake himself dry and mess up the house. He sighed and went trotting to get a towel.

He nearly ran over his brother, who came out of a doorway that Travis was about to enter. "Travis!" Johnny gasped after yipping in surprise from the close shave. He grinned smugly. "You're getting water everywhere," he noticed.

Travis growled and nodded. "I know, I know," he said, "I'm getting a towel!"

"Just shake yourself off on the back porch! It's got a roof over it, so it's still nice and dry!" instructed Johnny, and Travis went off. "MOM AND DAD WANNA TALK AFTER YOU'RE DONE!" he called after his big brother.

After Travis shook himself of the excess water, he came back in and grabbed a towel from the open cabinet beside the door in the kitchen. He dried himself off of the rest of the water and sniffed himself. He turned his head away in disgust. "Yeech, I DO smell like wet dog," he grumbled. "I can't transform into my human form, though, or I'll never get dry..." He sighed and went into the living room, towel around his shoulders.

He saw his parents and his brother sitting at the table. Frank and Dorian were there, too. They had changed into drier clothes and had found towels in the bathroom upstairs. As well, the other pokémon were there, too, all having shaken themselves dry under the shelter of the back porch. The only one who was actually remotely all dry was Vesp, thanks to her scales. Coaty sat on his perch across the room. "Travis, come here," his father said.

Travis came over and sat. The room, with so many furry people drenched in water, stank of wet dog and fur. He had to put up with that, though. Antonio looked at Travis in the eye sternly. "Travis...you disobeyed us and came to help us even when we said not to," he said firmly. "For this, you should be punished."

Travis sighed and bowed his head. "I understand," he said.

Frank and Dorian looked at him in surprise. ""!""

"But..." continued Antonio, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. Tears began wavy-waterfalling out as he admitted, "If it weren't for the help of you and your friends, none of us would be here right now, let alone the fact that the rest of us have defeated our beasts once and for all!!"

Instantly, Antonio, Lenore, and Johnny bowed in thanks. """THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HELPING!!"""

Travis raised his head, blinking in surprise at this. He then blushed and smiled a bit again. "No problem, but...well...helping..." He smiled fully and bowed back. "It was our pleasure to assist you in your goals," he said. "Thank YOU for accomplishing them." He hoped that was all the thanks he'd get, since he'd gathered that being an Agent was a bit of a community service--a thankless job. He got a big, all-family hug, anyway, which quickly included Frank and Dorian (who were relieved that they could at least breathe a little better than when Travis hugs them).

Sitting in the middle of the crowd of fur all around them (even Zante hugged him, since he always finds every excuse to hug somebody), Travis couldn't help but smile and hug his family tightly back as best as he could. "Thanks for including Frank and Dorian, at least," he said softly. "They went with me in my crazy scheme to help you guys out like the Agents. I'm so glad that we managed to do it...but I'm even more glad that you're all okay!" Tears were coming out of his eyes. "Mom...Dad...Johnny...I know I'm away a lot, but I don't know what I'd ever do without you!"

Yena, Coaty, and Vesp stayed on the sidelines, smiling at the sight. They sighed in unison. "The best ending possible," remembered Yena. "I'd say that this is it."

"Yeah," Coaty agreed. "I'm so glad that the family's still intact."

"I'm so happy that we stayed around to see how this came out," Vesp said.

After a while, everyone parted and was sitting again. Travis's family then apologized to the two humans for getting them wet and smelling like wet dog.

"Hey, it's alright," Dorian said, smiling and sweatdropping.

"It's an interesting experience, to say the least," Frank commented and laughed.

The others smiled sheepishly before Travis's family turned back to him. "Travis, we're sorry we made you worry so much," said Lenore. "We didn't want you getting hurt. You almost died tonight. I hope you thanked Yena for saving you and your friends' lives!" She eyed him.

Travis nodded. "Yeah, we did," he assured her.

"And we're also sorry we lied and said we were confident," Antonio apologized. "It might be because of those evil spirits, but still...we weren't even totally sure from the beginning."

"But we're in your debt, now," Lenore said, bowing again.

"No, you're not," Travis said, chuckling. He crossed his arms. "I don't think the Agents get paid to go out and help people like that. At least, I don't want to. It's a public service, I guess--using one's talents to help people in need. Besides, your lives were on the line, and I can't just turn back on my family!" he added, spreading his arms out. "You pay someone for doing something that they don't have to do, most of the time doing something you asked for. Sure, you cried for help, but help's always been one of those volunteer-type things. Yeah, that's it, volunteering," he muttered, nodding thoughtfully. He put his arms back down as he continued. "We volunteered to help you, basically. You don't pay volunteers. You pay employees, but not volunteers. So don't think you have to repay us. I guess all I'd like is just for you to say 'thanks for helping'. That's all I want--credit for HELPING." He sighed and smiled, nodding. "So you've already repaid your debt."

His parents looked at him proudly. "Son, that is a very mature thing you just said," said his father.

Travis blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Well, it's true," he defended himself.

His parents chuckled a little. "Well," said Lenore, "I guess there's one other thing we'd like for you to do."

"What's that?" asked Travis, tilting his head curiously.

His parents grinned at each other before saying, ""Helping with the purification ritual next chance we get,"" together. Travis laughed at this, and they joined him. "Sorry, but we're eager to get it done and over with," his father said. "It's night, but it's still young. Who knows? Maybe the storm will blow over before we get too tired." He laughed. "Hah! Too tired? Yeah, right, like any of us can sleep after all that!"

Lenore groaned. "Heaven knows I don't want to try and fight that thing again," she grumbled. "Let's hope it clears up soon..."

"Uuuh, guys?"

The group turned to the humans. "Yeeees?" the werewolves asked.

Frank and Dorian were holding their noses. ""Could you dry off first?"" they asked. Everyone laughed.

Later that night, the weather did clear up for a little while. This allowed the Monkshoods to go upstairs and purify their beasts. Everyone's beasts were nice to their "owners" and were named. Johnny named his Egon (yes, like the Ghostbuster), Antonio named his--in a REAL burst of inspiration--Gabu, and Lenore named hers Anastasia. They all were also very big, as described by the three. Travis decided not to ask HOW big, though, to prevent getting a big head or jealous if his was bigger or smaller, thus having more or less potential power.

The furred ones all took turns with the blow dryer and had to endure walking downstairs again to get laughed at by Frank and Dorian for the fluffed up look. They growled, walked silently by with an air of dignity, or smiled back, shrugging a bit. When Zante came back down, he was too busy contently hugging himself in his newfound fluffiness to notice, it appeared. This actually caused the other wolves to sweatdrop a little.

The sky was completely covered again after they were midway through drying, and it was pouring again by the time they were all done. As a very special (and secret) treat, Antonio and Lenore treated everyone, underage or pokémon or both or not, to a SINGLE round of saki to celebrate the purification of the entire Monkshood family. (The adults, of course, were allowed more than one round.)

"And it was all started because of one fateful night when Travis met the Elite Beat Agents!" Antonio laughed. It didn't take much saki to get him tipsy, and when he was, he was a lot more jovial than normal.

Travis sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I can't believe we actually were able to emulate them..."

"And you didn't do half bad, either!" complimented Zante. His cheeks were just a little red, despite having only one round of drink. "Heck, if they were watching right now, I bet they'd recruit the three of you right now!"

("Hell, yeah, we would," every Agent and Diva agreed--including Kahn.)

When Zante said that, however, something hit Travis. He widened his eyes and froze. "...No...No way..." he whispered. "There's no way we could..." He blinked and shook his head, looking down again. "We'd have to actually show them ourselves and get their opinion..." And then another thing hit him. "Wait...They're in Sinnoh...We're going back to Sinnoh..." He looked over to Frank and Dorian. "You guys like doing that?" he asked.

They looked at him and went, ""Huh?"" before getting what he meant. They nodded. "Yeah, I had fun," Dorian said.

"It was hard work, but it was worth it," Frank said. ""Why?""

Travis stroked his wolf's beard a little. "Wweeeellll," he drawled, looking at them with a raised eyebrow. "Would you mind taking on a sort of side project that might end up extending our trek through Sinnoh?"

-- -- --

The episode ended with Frank and Dorian looking questioningly back at Travis and the usual "TO BE CONTINUED". The Agents and Divas blinked for a moment before most of them burst into applause. "That was AWESOME!!" Missy cried.

"It's cool to see people doing what we do but not being us!" commented Foxx.

"I'll admit, they did a great job," J said.

"Great job? Yo, they ACED it!" Spin corrected his friend.

"Great work in the backups," Morris said.

"What he said," Derek chuckled.

"Travis can really move for a big, burly half-beast," Starr noticed.

Cheiftan, who didn't clap, just nodded and said, "They weren't bad."

Back up in his office, though, Kahn was thinking. "On second thought," he mumbled, "maybe I wouldn't recruit them..." He paused a moment, then pressed a button to activate the intercomm. "Agents," he called. "Do not contact Lock, Meyers, or Hunter about this. Let's see what happens." He released it and steepled his fingers again. "Let's see."

- - - - -

YOW. LONG one. Hope you liked it! I had fun writing it! And, yes, we're gonna be seeing these guys later in the future.


	24. GHOST

(24)( ) (Stuff) (of) (Legendaries)

The next day saw the Ouendan walking along down the path. They were too far from the beginning of the Underground Path directly south of Cerulean for it to matter, so they were hoofing it aboveground. The day was clear and met them with no complications. That is, well, if you don't count frequent battles as complications.

"Use Water Pulse again!"

"Dodge it!"

Sadly, the mighty charizard was too confused from the previous Water Pulse and was struck by the attack. Its spinning eyes were replaced by spiraly eyes as it hit the ground.

Hibiki raised his left arm. "Charizard is unable to battle! The battle goes to Kioshi and Croconaw!" He pointed it to the side, where Kioshi wiped his brow.

The generic-looking male trainer looked horrified, but he sighed and smiled as he went over to his charizard. "You did great, buddy," he said. "Return." The charizard was sucked back into its ball through the beam of red light. The trainer walked over to Kioshi and held his hand out to him. "Good battle," he said.

Kioshi nodded and shook the hand. "Good battle," he copied. "Thank you for being a heck of a much better sport than most trainers I've met have been to me."

The trainer nodded. "Hey, it's only polite," he said before he turned and left.

Kioshi and Croconaw sighed and flopped on their butts. "Boy, that's been, what, the sixth three-on-three in a row?" Kioshi asked. He unbuttoned his gakuran and opened it up a little to cool off. He wore a white t-shirt beneath it.

"Yeah, and the seventh overall with that one-on-one ten minutes after we woke up," Suzu added, walking over. She smiled down at a tired-looking Teddiursa. "You okay, there, little one?" she asked sweetly.

Teddiursa smiled back at her and nodded. "Ted!"

Hibiki went over and crouched to Croconaw. "You did a great job, Croconaw!" he complimented.

Croconaw blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Crocaw..."

Kioshi nodded, smiling. "You guys all did very good," he said to his party. The three pokémon all made sounds of thanks to him. Suddenly, though not surprisingly, ever-affectionate Dragonair glomped her human friend before he could even get up. "Ack! Dragonair! Ha-ha-ha!" Kioshi yelped as he was wrapped in a great hug and licked in the face. Everyone else let out a sigh and held their hands (or paws) in the "comically helpless" gesture.

The Ouendan decided to stop and rest themselves and the pokémon and have some lunch. They ate their customary meal of varied berries that they picked from around the area (though they discovered that not many berries grew around the Kanto region; they found enough to get by, though) and what they stored in their packs. They were tired of fruit, but it was good fruit, and they were supplimented by tasty rice balls, so all was good.

"We've gone a long way during our journey through here," commented Hibiki near the end of their meal. He nibbled on a rice ball and looked up to the clouds while speaking. "We've come all the way from Johto and we're almost down at Vermillion. It's pretty amazing."

"And all the people we helped," Kioshi added, chewing an oran berry slice. "First there was Ash's Charizard...I still can't thank you guys enough for coming and helping me out during that one."

Suzu and Hibiki gave him sympathetic smiles. "Not a problem," Suzu said, and appeared to want to say something else, but didn't. Instead, she continued. "Yeah, that was with 'Taiyou no Mannaka he.' Then we met Dragonair--a dratini, then--after we all went the extra mile and did 'SEASON'S CALL' for Benishirina...or whatever that guy's name was."

"And next we had...Let's see, who WAS next?" muttered Hibiki. "Oh, yeah, then we did 'FLY AWAY' for that Rosa girl, I think, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, we were around Pewter that day," Kioshi said. "Next, we did 'happiness!!' for...uhm...Nozomi, I think, and, afterwards, ended up meeting Croconaw and Teddiursa, the former of which having just been a totodile at the time," he continued, smiling at Croconaw.

"After that," Suzu went on, "we went and fought Tag, who ambushed us with Yer and It. Then, we woke up to find our pokémon friends had fought to defend us and our honor, which was very nice of them!" She chuckled at them, and they all blushed and put their paw (or tailtip) behind their head. "After that, to our surprise, we went and cheered on Kagome to convert those three while we did 'Life is Beautiful'--the one by m-flo, not SixxAM," (or however that band's name is spelled) she added.

"And here we are now," Kioshi finished, holding a gloved hand up and indicating around them. "On the road to Vermillion to meet the Agents and...talk with them." He smiled sadly at Dragonair. 'I'm going to be so sad to leave her and this world...'

Hibiki sighed in disappointment. "Yeah, and we haven't seen ONE legendary yet," he grumbled. "I was hoping to at LEAST see, like, Suicune or Lugia or something..."

Suzu and Kioshi laughed. Then Kioshi raised an eyebrow. "Hey, doesn't Dragonair count?" he asked.

Hibiki shook his head. "Naw, she's just really bleeping rare," he said.

Dragonair pouted at him and narrowed her eyes at this. She was about to playfully smack him when she noticed something. "Dra?" She lifted her body and looked to the northwest. She gasped. "Oh, my..." she whispered in her language.

"What's up?" asked Kioshi, looking at her. He followed her gaze and tilted his head. "Nani?" He squinted and peered. "It's a...pink...glowing...thing..."

Hibiki and Suzu turned to look, too, and Hibiki gasped hugely and dropped his jaw. "No fucking way," he muttered. It got closer, moving towards them to the southeast, and they all gaped as they unmistakably saw what it was.

The mew flew, looking left and right as it appeared to look around for something. Then, it heard the loud gasp and looked down. Its face lit up and it happily flew towards them a little faster. To Hibiki's further astonishment, it flew down RIGHT FOR THEM!!

The Ouendan backed away just a little bit. "Holy crap!" Hibiki whispered hoarsely. "Ask and ye shall recieve, indeed! The rarest pokémon ever!! Woah!"

Mew looked curiously around at the humans. It investigated each one rather closely. Hibiki was solid as a statue and sweating bullets from the OMGness of it all. "Interesting," it said in its language. "You guys all have amazingly strong spirits." She, as Dragonair and the other pokémon could tell, stopped in front of Kioshi and tilted her head. "Especially you, Ponytail."

"That's Kioshi," said Dragonair a mite defensively.

Mew raised her eyebrows a little, turning to the Dragon-type, and floated over to Dragonair. She paused a moment, tilting her head at her. 'Hers is just as high as Ponytail's is...' "Cool," was all she said. "What the heck are these guys?"

Dragonair lifted a portion of her body as if lifting her chest proudly. "They're Ouendan," she answered. "They cheer for people and help them through their troubles."

Mew tilted her head the other way. "Really, now?" she asked softly. "Then I DID get the right guys." She promptly floated over to the last rice ball, grabbed it, and floated up again.

Suzu anger-veined. "What the--!! Little theif! Came down to filtch a rice ball!" she growled.

Mew stuck her tiny little tongue out at her. "Sorry, but we all gotta eat, too, y'know, and I love rice balls." She took a tiny nibble out of it and floated out of Suzu's reach. "Heh, didn't think this was gonna be so easy!" she laughed. She didn't make it clear if she was referring to the theft or something else...Mew floated away, towards the southeast, and stopped and turned, shaking her butt cutely at them. "Y'want y'food? Then come and get it!!" she taunted before turning and flying off at a pace she estimated the others could follow her at.

Suzu stood, clenching a fist. "GET BACK HERE!!" she roared.

The boys and pokémon sweatdropped. "Er, it's just a rice ball," Kioshi said, holding a hand up.

"You could always get one in Vermillion if you really want one," Hibiki suggested.

Suzu glared down at them, flames leaping around her. "AFTER IT!! NOW!!" she ordered, pointing in Mew's direction. When she said "now", the flames flared.

Everyone jumped. "YES, M'AM!" they all said before the group quickly gathered their stuff (which included Kioshi buttoning up his gakuran again) and raced after Mew, Suzu leading.

"DROP THE RICE BALL OR DIE, YOU WALKING PLUSHIE!!"

Mew, halfway through the rice ball, looked over her shoulder and found that they were a lot faster than she expected and were practically underneath her. "Wow," she muttered. "Those guys are fast."

"They have to be," called back Dragonair, slithering as fast as she could. She panted. "Phoo! I can't wait until I get legs and wings!"

Mew smirked and kept going, looking forwards again. "This is fun!" she laughed.

They weaved through the forest for a bit before Mew shot off through a clearing. Suzu growled and led the chase after her. "Get back here!" she seethed. It took a couple seconds before she realized she was pumping her legs to no avail. "Huh?" She looked down. The others followed her example. All six yelped and tried scrambling back to the ledge, but they were too late--they had already looked down, thus enacting one of the laws of cartoons and re-enabling gravity.

Screaming, they fell down to the forest below. They landed hard, but not lethally. Suzu moaned. "Uuugh...I think I landed on a rock," she grumbled, rubbing her butt.

"No, only my head," said Hibiki from under her.

"EEP!" Suzu jumped up and the poor Bluendan got up and brushed himself off, rubbing his head afterwards.

"Me-yah!" taunted a voice.

The party turned and saw Mew. She held up the remains of the rice ball and stuck it in her mouth. "Too late!" she sang before giggling.

Suzu anger-veined again and clenched her fist at the pokémon again. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS, YOU LITTLE--!" The chase continued, this time for revenge.

"Has she always been this defensive of her food?" Kioshi asked Hibiki.

"Only her rice balls, as far as I know," Hibiki answered.

The Mew suddenly darted straight down before some bushes, stopped, turned around, and put a finger to her lips as she went, "SHHHHH!!"

The crowd screeched to a halt, surprised at this. Even Suzu was caught off-guard enough to change her expression back to a more normal one. "Wh--" she began, but was shushed again, louder.

Mew motioned for them to come over and look, then parted a hole in the bushes and looked. "I'm surprised that guy hasn't found you guys," she whispered in her language.

As the Ouendan parted the bushes, they gasped. "Woah!" Kioshi whispered.

"We must have been so busy chasing Mew, we didn't feel it!" Suzu said.

"So let's pay attention, then," Hibiki suggested.

Dragonair, Croconaw, and Teddiursa felt it, too, and were interested in what the feeling was--well, the boys were; Dragonair knew by now exactly what it was, and a very long-shot idea flickered up in her mind.

- - - - -

A HUGE facility was sitting right there in the middle of the woods. It looked very strange. A sign over the front door read, "Shadow Pokémon Labs, Kanto," in dark violet-outlined black letters (well, kana and kanji). The way the windows emitted eerie lights perturbed the Ouendan in the suddenly-setting sun's orange glow.

Mew motioned to them to follow, and they silently crept around to the side. "Okay," she whispered. "I've been worried about this kid for a while, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna need your friends tonight, Ms. Dragonair."

"It's just Dragonair," Dragonair whispered back, nodding. "What's wrong?"

"Well, let's just say that he's not normal," Mew said as they approached their destination. "I've decided to hide it from Mr. Serious Pants because I have a feeling that something's not right and he'd get in danger. You guys might, too, but I think you can handle it--I mean, hey, if the stories I heard are true and you guys can help anyone without getting in danger yourselves..." She stopped and parted the bushes again. The others followed her example. They watched through a large window.

A dark, balled-up figure floated in a giant tube-like tank full of dark violet fluid, wires coming out of it and connecting to the sides and top of the tank. A few people in white lab coats stood around the room, operating equipment, monitoring monitors that monitored life signs, and observing the figure.

"Life signs are nominal."

"Brain waves are normal."

"Condition still stable."

"Good," said a voice from the shadows. A man in a dark, hooded cloak that covered his entire body stepped out. Nobody could see his face from the hood, but he was still quite menacing. "Is its type identified?" he asked, crossing his arms loosely.

"Yes, Dr. One," said one scientist standing near the tank. "It has been identified as a Psychic-/Shadow-type."

"Is its Shadow-type property stable?"

"Yes. Your hypothesis was correct and your serum has made its type permanent," said another scientist at a monitor.

"If I do say so myself, sir, Cipher would be proud and likely willing to pay a lot of money," complemented somebody.

The figure nodded. "Thank you, but I don't give a damn about anything anymore," he said briskly. He had an ever-businesslike manner about him. "Anything like that, at least." He turned to the only other scientist standing in front of the tank. This one had a hairstyle that somewhat reminded one of Egon from the Ghostbusters animated series (an excellent spinoff series, if I do say so myself; for years, whenever I'm reading the HP books, I've always imagined Snape as looking somewhat like a weird red ghost I saw in that show once...). His round glasses were glared over, so you couldn't see his eyes. He wore a serious expression on his face and what appeared to be a robotic arm on his left shoulder. The cloaked man took one step forward to him. "Have you fixed the problems from last time?" he asked.

The doctor looked down, not turning to the speaker. "All that I could," he said. His voice was one that reflected tiredness and loss.

"Will it follow commands?"

"It should."

"Any signs of interference in its subconciousness?"

"...Not that we have noticed."

"Good. Now, then...is it forming the way you remember?"

"Yes and no." The doctor looked up again. "The basic anatomy is the exact same, albiet younger due to its adolescence instead of the adult state we had advanced the other to before."

"Will the differences affect its performance?"

"It shouldn't affect it majorly," answered the scientist. "Its markings are intriguing, but appear to be merely cosmetic. Its color scheme will make it harder to see in dark environments. The head of hair might get into the eyes, but, seeing as we have to deal with that anyway and we live, that shouldn't be a problem."

"What reasons are there for its differences?"

"My theory is that the special changes you requested somehow triggered them. For instance, the coloring may have resulted from the integration of the Shadow type into its DNA."

The cloaked head looked at the figure. "...It awakes." The head turned back to its side and found an empty space there.

The scientist he had been speaking to was well away from the tank, standing in the farthest corner of the room and quite small from the distance. "One learns from their mistakes," he said, adjusting his glasses.

The other scientists sweatdropped, and the cloaked figure put a palm to his hidden face and shook his head. "...As you wish," he said before turning to look in through the glass.

A pair of eyes opened slowly. Beautifully dark blue eyes were revealed to the world. 'W...What...?' It looked up and saw the dark figure before it. The sheer emptiness it felt from it was amazing, causing it to shoot its eyes wide open in fear.

"Greetings, my new, young mewtwo," said the cloaked figure.

Outside, all three humans shot their eyes wide open. """!!"""

The mewtwo blinked at the being in front of it. 'What the...Mewtwo? What's a...mewtwo...?' it wondered.

"Drain the tank," the figure said, lifting its head away from the glass. "Remove the wires."

"Yes, sir."

The scientist from before took a step forwards. "Do NOT frighten it," he advised firmly. "Do NOT put it at unease. Doing so might be fatal..." He held his left arm up and looked at its metal hand. "...as I quite nearly experienced. But that problem should be one of the fixed ones," he hastily added when the cloaked figure appeared to shoot him a piercing gaze.

"Good." He turned back to the creature as it settled down on the bottom of the tank, free of the wires. "Remove the glass." The glass tank came up from around it. "Good. No violence so far." The figure reached down and held a right, black-gloved hand out to the mewtwo. "Welcome to this world."

The mewtwo gulped and looked up, frighted, at the hand. It was sitting like a cat as it gazed up. The way it did so made the scientist with the metal arm take a step back and grit his teeth. 'What...? Where am I? Why is this scary thing talking to me? Is it going to hurt me?'

"Take your paw and grab my hand," instructed the figure. "And grow up, already--I'm not going to act like a parent who's just had a baby for you. No world's ever been so kind." He looked away. "That will all change very soon, however," he whispered. He looked back at the pokémon and beckoned with the outstretched hand. "Come."

The mewtwo slowly reached up with its right paw and grasped the hand, fur slick from the water. It was slowly pulled up into a stand. When it was standing, the hand let go and he let his paw flop to his side. He was standing as tall as the cloaked man, who was actually quite tall, but this was simply because of the tank's elevated platform. He looked frightenedly at the figure.

The figure stepped back and motioned for the mewtwo to follow. It did so, revealing itself to be only a little taller than an average teenage male human. "You DID give a gender to this one, as well, correct?" asked the man, looking at the scientist. "And get over here, you coward."

The man gulped and walked over. The pokémon looked over and was confused and a little relieved to see that it wasn't the only one who felt fear. "Yes," he answered. "Male, as you requested." He stopped ten feet from the pokémon, though, still highly cautious.

"Thank you. Now, then," the man said, and he turned his head back to the pokémon. "You are not to blow anything up, you are not to kill anyone, you are not to disobey anything--unless I say so," the figure instructed. "I am your master. Deal with it."

The mewtwo gulped. 'I don't like the sounds of this, whatever he means,' he thought.

"Now, come with Dr. Fuji and allow yourself to be tested. First, however, learn your name so that you can respond when called," continued the man. He waved his hand and, to everyone's amazement, created letters in midair. "Your name is the same as the project that you are," described the man. "Named so after a sword of feirce power. Read it, repeat it, remember it."

The letters spelled out words in English, and the mewtwo was surprised he knew what they said. He was even more surprised when he repeated them aloud perfectly. 'Aren't I supposed to just say my name...?' Regardless, from his lips, in a deepish, flexible voice, came:

"My name is Kotetsu."

Before the scientists stood a young mewtwo, 5 feet, 7 inches high, 210 pounds heavy. His main fur was light grey and his stomach and tail were dark grey. The tip of his tail, the sides of his thighs, the backs of his paws, and his cheeks were emblazoned with strange, black markings in unnatural designs. His eyes were dark blue and shaped like a mewtwo's, but a little rounder and softer. He had a head of wild, spikey, black hair that hung down around his skull. A large spike of bangs went down the middle of his face. His ears stuck out from it.

(Kotetsu, 0 (body age 15), Mewtwo)

Kotetsu walked away with a reluctant Dr. Fuji, the scientist with the robotic-like arm. The Ouendan looked at each other in amazement.

"""Holy shit,""" they mouthed to each other in English.

Dragonair and her pokémon friends were confused. "What's the big deal?" she asked in a hushed voice. "Sure, some humans just MADE a pokémon, but there's already been Porygon and Castform..."

"Watch him," Mew whispered, and everyone looked at her. She was floating and looking at them seriously. "Help him." And with that, she was gone, Teleporting away.

They blinked a few moments before they nodded and got back to business.

- - -

Night fell. Kotetsu sat in a small room where he had a largish cot, a sink, and even a toilet. A single privacy window shone out to him from above. It was walled with steel-panel walls. He sat on his bed, legs curled up to him and being hugged in place. The light in the room was off, bathing him in darkness, the only illumination being from the window. The Ouendan looked through this window at him. The mewtwo sighed.

"What's going on?" he asked nobody quietly. He held a paw up and looked at it. "Why the tests?" He recalled running on a treadmill, attacking dummies, and even sitting down to figure out equations. "Sure, I found out that I'm really smart and strong, but...why? What's going on?" he asked again, clenching his fist. "What does it mean that I'm a mewtwo? I've never heard of that before. I somehow know a whole encyclopedia of pokémon, but...not myself." He brought his paw back to hugging his legs as he looked down with sadness and confusion. "And why are they doing this?" he added. "Why...Why make me? Shouldn't I have been born, instead?"

He closed his eyes. "I'm...I'm so confused," he whispered. "And frightened. What's going to happen to me?" He remembered a test earlier that day. He stood, panting, before a dummy that had been pummeled to obliteration.

"Kotetsu. Enough." The cloaked man called out from the room high up on the wall beside him, a room behind glass windows. Kotetsu stood and waited, looking at him. The man looked back at Fuji, who sat at a console and typed. "Analysis?" asked the man.

"I'm sorry," Fuji said, "but he's not very efficient when it comes to ranged attacks and use of telekinesis and Barrier. He appears to be better at close combat, which is lethal when paired with his surprisingly stupendous physical strength and speed, and can use a combination of psychic power and Shadow-type energy to further enhance blows. He cannot effectively fly or shoot, but he is unbelievably strong. Just...not as strong as you wanted. I apologize."

The man was silent for a few moments. "I see," he finally said at last. "Is there any way for him to change?"

"No, sadly," said Fuji, shaking his head. "He's been set. He's through puberty for mewtwos. There's nothing we could do." He stroked his beard with his bionic hand. His hair was quite a bit whiter than it was a few years ago. "Perhaps if we put more of the original inside of him..." he muttered, something Kotetsu's powerful ears could barely catch.

The man seemed to freeze. Finally, he said again, "I see." He turned and left the room, saying, "Advance to the next test."

Back in his room, Kotetsu shuddered. "That man," he muttered. "He's so...creepy. Why...?" He looked up at the ceiling. "He's planning something to do with me. I wasn't made up to snuff the way he wants..." He gulped. "Does he want to...kill me...?" Tears flew out when he quickly shut his eyes and looked down again, teeth gritted. "Can someone please tell me SOMEthing?" he asked, voice cracking.

The Ouendan raised their eyebrows sharply as they saw a small globe of soft, white light appear in the center of the room.

(Silph Scope required to identify. Visit our location in Saffron City and get yours today!)

''Kotetsu,'' the globe said. Its voice was that of a little girl's.

Kotetsu looked up and gasped, stumbling back on his bed a little. "Who...?" he began before he stopped as a memory came to him. "...I...remember you..." he whispered.

''You...You do...?'' the globe asked. It floated down to him and in front of his face. ''But we never met...did we?''

Kotetsu knit his eyebrows together in worried confusion. "No, but...I still remember you," he said. "Your voice...Are you a ghost...?"

The globe bobbed up and down. ''...I cannot tell you why you remember me, but I can and must tell you something else. It is very important.'' The ghost floated back a little bit. ''They are planning to turn you into a living weapon,'' she told him.

Kotetsu tensed. "What?" he asked softly.

''Yes. You are nothing more than a pawn to them,'' she continued. ''At least, to two certain people. One man named Giovanni and another who you have met before.''

Kotetsu looked away. "Cloak," he recited the nickname.

''Yes. He is also known as Dr. One, for some reason.'' ("One" was said as the number, not a true proper noun name. So, in Japan (and China, if I'm not mistaken), it was "Ichi".) The ghost came down to him again. ''The others merely view you as an interesting piece of science. They are no match in coldness to those two men, however. You are going to be USED. Your power shall be abused to fight and your life will never be your own as long as they are in power.''

Kotetsu gaped at her. "I'm...I'm going to be used like a sword," he finally realized. He looked at her urgently and leaned over to her. "Stop them!" he begged.

''I cannot,'' the ghost said, backing away a little. ''I am ethereal. I am unable to do anything to them except perhaps frighten them. However, that is useless with those two...both are so heartless, fear will have no effect on them. I wish so much to help you...but I can't. In fact, I am fading soon...'' She suddenly dimmed and brightened again.

Kotetsu, tears starting again, reached for her. She flew out of his reach again. "No!" he cried. "Don't go!" He then blinked and looked at his chest. "What...What is this feeling...?" he asked softly.

''Sadness, I believe,'' the ghost answered.

"But...I don't think it's from what you've told me..." he muttered. "I...feel like...you're going for good, now...and I'm sad...Please," he asked, looking up again, "don't go!!"

The ghost hovered for a moment. ''I must.'' She came closer again. ''So I must say this now. You are going to be used, abused, and unloved. You will never know everything. You will only know negativity. Your heart shall close itself up until something horrible will happen...because, while your power will increase immensely when your heart is shut tighter than tightest, you will pay the price of the loss of your very true self...'' She began dimming and brightening again, beginning to pulse.

Kotetsu widened his eyes even wider at this. "My...My self?" he asked.

''What some people might call your soul,'' clarified the ghost.

The mewtwo froze.

''You will never know truly what life can bring. You will never truly see. You will never feel. You will never be.'' The ghost began pulsing so much, she was flickering.

Kotetsu gasped and reached for her, but his paw passed right through her. "NO!" he cried. "PLEASE! DON'T GO!!" He was crying hard now. "I...I NEED YOU!!"

''I want to help you,'' the ghost sniffed, sounding like she, too, was crying. ''But all I can do is this right now...not much longer...please...Don't...'' A human face slowly began to flicker in with the ball of light.

At this time, Kotetsu's door slid open. "Kotetsu? What's wro--" Dr. Fuji peeked his head through and gasped. Before him was the flashing ghost of a young girl--her face, at least. The girl turned to look at Fuji and gasped, too. "A...A..." stuttered Dr. Fuji.

The ghost, indeed crying, sniffed and frowned, shaking her head. She looked back at Kotetsu. ''Kotetsu...Try...Just try...And remember...don't...'' But she finally flickered away and faded into nothing.

""NO!!"" the two guy cried, reaching out where she was. Kotetsu had dived from his cot and now came crashing to the floor. He lay there, facedown, arm still out.

Fuji was crying. "I...I don't...believe it..." he whispered, throat tight.

Kotetsu quivered on the floor. "...cry..." he finished for her. He began to etch something into the floor with his outstretched paw, using a strong claw of psychic energy. His psychic energy was colored dark blue. "But...I...I can't stop...You're gone...No..." He shook harder. "I can't...save myself...please...no..." The whole world to him began to fade out as he slowly shuddered, "O..." He clenched at the floor with his other paw, fingers dragging slowly across the steel. A dull creak began.

Fuji raised his eyebrows as he saw how much Kotetsu was shaking. He saw that Kotetsu was etching. He carefully went over to see. The kanji for love looked back up at him. The creaking continued as a bit of small debris around Kotetsu's other paw, which was starting to vein up, began rattling. "O..." continued the pokémon, slowly getting up as he shook.

Finally, the floor screeched loudly as a clump of steel sheet crumpled into his paw. Kotetsu, on his paws and knees, shot his head up to the ceiling, tears flying away, and cried, with a voice that echoed throughout the entire facility,

**"OOOUEEENDAAAAAAAAAAAN!!"**

- - - - -

The Ouendan had been grabbing onto the outside sill of the privacy window when they heard him cry out. So, all they needed to do was, after Kioshi told the pokémon to stay, hoist themselves up and break through the window.

"I think I know what to do," said Kioshi. "Time for a bit of English."

"A bit?" asked Hibiki.

Suzu nodded. "A lot, if I'm thinking the same thing," she said.

"Yeah, I think," Kioshi said. "We'll know in a second..."

-:-:-

(-)(Instrumental)

The window in the room is full of three faces. Central is Kioshi. """OSU!!"""

**-:-:-Break Free! Can A One-Day-Old Escape Fate?-:-:-**

Kotetsu shakilly got up slowly. "You're...leaving, aren't you?" Fuji asked him softly, holding his natural arm out to him. Kotetsu nodded and stood fully, head still down. His hair covered his face.

CRASH!! Right as the rest of the instruments joined the guitars, the Ouendan came in, one by one, through the window and landed on the bed. Fuji had noticed them before, so he wasn't that surprised. First came in Hibiki, then Kioshi, and finally Suzu. While they came in, Fuji stood aside. "If you must, I won't stop you," he said to Kotetsu quietly, holding an arm out and opening the door.

"It's just the security system I have to get through," murmured Kotetsu. "Can I do it alone...?"

Right as he was about to let dispair and hopelessness suck him away, the Ouendan finished coming in. """OSU!!""" Instantly, Kotetsu was flaming with energy, legs spread apart, head down enough that you couldn't see his mouth, eyes glowing and flaming at the same time, fists clenched, arms bent. He basically was in a sort of "going super-sayin" pose. "GOOOOOOOO!!"

The Ouendan slid into place outside in the hall. """IKUZE!! SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!!"""

-I saw a dream

-That the world's disappeared

-I thought I'd be

-Breaking down every rule

-I saw a dream

-That the world's all a scheme

-I thought I'd be

-Hiding out every clue

BEAT CRUSADERS' "GHOST" was the song this time around. (Kotetsu considered "Aozora no Namida" while observing the situation earlier, but he soon decided that "GHOST" would work better.) (Oh, and I'm all-capsing the names because that's how it is in Japan, I think.) At first, Kotetsu was running through the halls, narrowly avoiding the machine gun turrets that fired at him from little pods in the ceiling (think those annoying missile-kill-only turrets from the Metroid Prime series) at even intervals. Then, breifly, his confidence dipped again and he was stuck in one spot, dancing around comically (especially funny for a mewtwo) to dodge bulletfire. He quickly got back on track and was soon dashing through the halls at top speed, swerving around faster than the guns could track him, jumping and breaking a turret with a Psychic- and Shadow-enhanced punch every once in a while. The Shadow-type energy was black and crackled with red electricity.

He panted as he jogged along. "Almost to that door," he grumbled. He rounded a corner and gasped as he saw three HUGE energy turrets lining the door. "How do I dodge through THESE?!" He gulped as they each targeted him and fired a huge ball of energy.

Kotetsu had nowhere to dodge, so, gritting his teeth, he crouched and leapt into the air, spinning around with a strong aerial spin kick powered with psychic and Shadow-type energy. The attacks collided and Kotetsu had to fight for a second, but he managed to strike them back at an even greater speed than they had come at him with.

BOOM! He smirked a Mewtwo smirk as he landed, the three turrets exploding from their own attacks being returned to them. "That'll work," he muttered.

**--(O)--**

(-)Here I am

(-)Watching all people's laughter

(-)Here I am

(-)Watching those people

As he opened the door, he grit his teeth at the sight before him. A huge room with another door in front of him at the far end was full of humanoid robots armed with electric clubs and fashioned to resemble cops.

"HALT," ordered one in a robotic voice (imagine words in the LCD-number-style font).

"CAPTURE THE ESCAPEE," instructed another.

"Great, a security drone convention!!" growled Kotetsu. 'This is gonna hurt my knuckles...'

"""OSU!!"""

-I remember the ghost

-It's a beautiful thing in the world

-I'm in love with a ghost

-Such a beautiful thing, you know

-(Woah-oah-oah-oah)

-(Hey!)

-(Instrumental)

Kotetsu plowed through each and every drone in his path with powerful punches, kicks, tail slams, and even throws as he raced to get through to the other side of the room. He wasn't even using energy to enhance his blows. Then, he must have gotten a little tired, since, after a while, he stopped and dealt with them one at a time, using energy to power his attacks up. Then, once, he was standing still, holding bulge-pulsing red paws and wearing a face that was silently crying from the pain. His mouth was shut into a v-angled frown while he cried the wavy-waterfall tears of T(underscore)T fame. The robots even appeared to be pointing and laughing at him. Rage might have stirred him to quickly return to pwning the drones.

He stood in a ring of drones, trapped. "Shoot!" He looked at the door only twenty feet away. "And so close, too!" He looked back at the ring and thought for a moment. "Alright, then! TAKE THIS!!" he cried, and, with a fist surrounded in energy, he slammed the floor below him.

The energy spread outwards from him in the form of lightning-like bolts, zapping each one of the drones. They all exploded and Kotetsu dashed through the cloud of dust out the door, shaking his paws. "You know, if it hurts this much to hit metal, then why does Fighting beat Steel?" he wondered aloud as he went.

**--(O)--**

(-)I saw a dream

(-)That the world's disappeared

(-)I thought I'd be

(-)Breaking down every rule

"INITIATING LOCKDOWN," a robotic voice announced as the metal-plated hallways, usually lit with acid-green lights, suddenly blazed with red. From behind Kotetsu, thick walls of steel came down, up, and from the side and trapped him in.

He made the spazzing face as he yelped, "I'm trapped like a rattata!"

"""OSU!!"""

-Here I am

-Watching all people's laughter

-Here I am

-Watching those people

-I remember the ghost

-It's a beautiful thing in the world

-I'm in love with a ghost

-Such a beautiful thing, you know

-(Woah-oah-oah-oah)

-(Hey!)

At first, Kotetsu was running full-tilt, all-out BLASTING holes in front of him through the walls by launching monstrous flying kicks that exploded from the energy he surrounded them in. Then, suddenly, he had to stop because a wall, possibly a late one, somehow caught on his tail and he had to try and pull it out while...how to term it...erm, lollipop-tearing (those bugged-out, wavy-outlined eyes with the lollipop-shaped white tears coming out that sometimes occur when the character feels pain). (And, of course, I explain it anyway...) He got it free and went to using his brute strength to grab the edge where the walls had slammed into the boundries of the hallway. He would grab one wall from the side and, with a bit of effort, thrust it aside and dash through before having to jump and throw down another, fall through, then grab another from the other side, throw IT aside, dash in, and finally crouch and lift a wall up, walk under it, and release it. The cycle would then repeat. Every time the walls went into their origins, they quickly went back out again. Sadly, he breifly got his tail stuck under a wall again, having not gone through carefully enough, and was so ticked, he just went back to what he had been doing before, doing it the real guy way.

He finally got to the last door, leading outside out front. "Alright!" he cried, panting. He skidded when he heard a loud mechanical sound. "Huh?" He looked around and started with a "WOAH!" when the portions of wall around the door started to close in an X-like seam--fast. THICK portions made of heavy metal. He wouldn't be able to get a good grip or blast through if they closed. "MOVE IIIIT!" he meeped as he ran as fast as he could and jumped into a dive.

CLANG! The final lockdown walls shut and Kotetsu was on the other side, the door crumpling around his body as he plowed through it. Had he gone a second later, he would have found out how a handlebar feels when being gripped. Kotetsu landed, the dehinged door flying away from him, and he looked back. He breathed a sigh of relief and mopped his brow. "I might just have a shot at this escape thing," he commented.

**--(O)--**

(-)(Instrumental)

(-)I remember the ghost...

(-)I remember the ghost...

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?"

Kotetsu cringed and turned around to find the black-cloaked figure standing before him, arms crossed loosely. He stiffened. "Y...You..." he whispered in fear. He then remembered the ghost (n.p.i.) he had seen and the feelings he felt. He looked down and clenched a fist determinedly. 'I can't give up now...I can't be afraid of Cloak here!!' He looked up with fire in his eyes, narrowing them in a way that might have given Fuji some serious deja vu. He didn't even need an """OSU!!""" this time. "Anywhere but here!" he answered vehemently.

Cloak uncrossed his arms. "So be it, you ungrateful thing," he said, strange pencils of energy forming around him, one giant one forming in his hand. "Die."

-I'm in love with a ghost

-It's a beautiful thing, you know

-I'm in love with a ghost

-Such a beautiful thing, you know

-(Woah-oah-oah-oah)

-I'm in love with a ghost...

-I remember the ghost...

-(Woah-oah-oah-oah)

Kotetsu was, oddly, doing moderately well at first. (Hey, I get to break my rules once in a while, don't I?) He was dodging the attacks, be they needle-sharp pencils flying at him or a giant spear of a pencil swinging and stabbing towards him. He also broke free of any weird paper that sprang up to try and restrain him. He wasn't able to land any hits back, though. Then, his performance dipped, and he was getting hit over and over. He was held in place by the paper while energy pencils drilled into his body and Cloak mercilessly attacked with spear swings. After a little bit, though, Kotetsu dug deep. He broke the paper and went to where he was before, but better. He dodged, dodged, and dodged until the spear came. He grabbed it as it came at him and spinning-threw its owner down on the ground in front of him. Cloak soon jumped back up and back and the whole process repeated--except for the parts where Kotetsu was unable to attack, of course.

"Dr. One!!"

Kotetsu and Cloak turned to look while Dr. Fuji stood with his natural right arm on his side, a look of defiance on his face, and a remote in his unnatural left hand. "Me and the others have all come outside and to a consensus: We quit!"

"A C4 detonator...!" gasped Cloak. He growled and launched his spear like a javelin at Dr. Fuji's hand before he could press the button.

"NO!" Kotetsu ran and struck the spear away with a kick as soon as the lab behind him exploded. He landed beside Dr. Fuji. "Why?" he asked. He looked very tired.

"Repentence," Dr. Fuji simply answered with a sad smile.

**--(O)--**

(-)(Short instrumental)

(-)(Woah-oah-oah-oah)

Seeing how tired Kotetsu looked, the Ouendan decided they probably should help him get back in the game again. They nodded to each other before looking back at the mewtwo. """OSU!!"""

-I remember the ghost

-It's a beautiful thing in the world

-I'm in love with a ghost

-Such a beautiful thing, you know

-(Woah-oah-oah-oah)

-I'm in love with a ghost...

-I remember the ghost...

Kotetsu never stopped doing his best as he continued to fight with Cloak.

Finally, there came one final standoff. Kotetsu and Cloak stood at opposite ends of the field, both panting pretty hard. Cloak thrust a hand out and an armada of attacks appeared around him. "It's time to finish this!!" he roared, and sent the attacks at Kotetsu.

Kotetsu's eyes glowed as he dashed forward. He dodged every single attack and made his way to Cloak, who, in surprise that all of this had been avoided, got hit by an enormous, energy-saturated punch that would make Capt. Falcon proud. The explosion blew Cloak clear away. When the light faded, all that remained was a cloak and black gloves, which lay on what appeared to be a pile of ashes.

Kotetsu panted, looking pale. "Heh...Heh-heh..." he chuckled weakly as he stood, shaking. "...I did it...I...will live...my...own life..." He fell down on his knees and then forwards onto his face.

"Kotetsu!!" cried Dr. Fuji, rushing over to him.

"My...own...l-i-f-e..." breathed the pokémon very slowly as his eyes closed.

The scientist stopped as he saw Kotetsu glowing. "What in blazes?!" he asked in wonder. Then, in a flash, Kotetsu was gone. "Teleport?" Fuji asked, stepping back in surprise. "But...to where...?"

-

A teenage girl lay awake in her bed, staring at her ceiling. "That same weird feeling..." she whispered. "That same weird kind of dream..."

A flash from her window alerted her to sit up and look outside. She gasped as she saw someone lying on the ground in the alleyway by her house. "A...A boy?!" She quickly threw off the covers.

"Hey...Hey...Kid? You alright?"

"Uuuuhn..." Slowly, the boy opened his eyes. He had beautiful dark blue eyes. He looked up and saw the girl's face. "What happened?" he asked weakly.

The girl looked concernedly down at him. "I dunno, but I saw a bright flash outside my window and I saw you," she described. "You were lying facedown on the ground...Are you alright?"

The boy groaned as he struggled to get up. "Yeah, just...really weak and tired, that's all," he said. "I...dunno what happened...Unh!" He fell to the ground.

The girl grabbed his arm, pulled him up, and supported him. "Where do you live?" she asked, starting to walk out to the sidewalk.

"...Uhm...150 East Minstril," the boy answered after a moment of thought.

"That's pretty close by. Your parents home?" she asked, starting to walk down the road.

"I...think so," he replied.

"I'll take you there. They might be worried." The girl walked him along the sidewalk.

The boy weakly went along. "Thank you..." he croaked. "What's...your name?" he asked.

The girl smiled. "I'm Fuji Amberi," she answered. "Who are you?"

The human boy waited a moment to catch his breath before replying, "Kotetsu. Tsugaru Kotetsu." He currently wore a plain white t-shirt, jeans, sandals, and wild black hair.

The two walked off down the road in the city as the camera panned upwards. "It's nice to meet you, Kotetsu," Amberi said. "Given the circumstances, and everything, of course..." She paused. "For some reason...I feel like we could be great friends..."

"...Me, too..." Kotetsu mumbled.

The camera stopped by a pair of catlike, pale lavender feet on a rooftop, a brown cloak fluttering in and out of view. The feet were pointed towards the direction the children went.

- - -

Kotetsu, as a human, was seen the next day happily playing a game of basketball together with Amberi in an outdoor court between two apartment buildings in the city, jumping high with a face of triumph and shooting while Amberi laughed up at him. Both their shadows were seen. Amberi's was of a human girl, but Kotetsu's was of a wild-haired mewtwo's. A few people walked by the fence leading outside to the street. Among these people was a serious young man with big, violet hair and a brown cloak. He was looking a little at the two playing the sport.

-:-:-

The Ouendan never got to see any of that, however, though the scene above unfolded while Kotetsu could faintly hear the fading, over-the-phone-like sound of the music as it lengthily ended. The three looked at each other with unsure faces.

"Did we do it right?" asked Hibiki.

"I mean, did it end all right?" asked Suzu.

Kioshi shrugged. "I'm...not quite that sure..."

Dr. Fuji, however, smiled to himself. "I'm certain," he said aloud, "that wherever he is...he's happy." He sighed, looking at the remains of his former boss and frowning. "I guess I failed to tell you that I decided to leave in his strong heart, after all," he said to the pile of clothes and dust. "Sure, I made him more obediant...I made him a Shadow Pokémon...but if I learned anything when Mewtwo destroyed New Island..." He raised his left arm and looked at it. "...it's to never create a being without allowing them a good chance for affection." He turned and walked away.

He passed by the spot the Ouendan had hid and stopped, not looking at them. "...Thank you very much for assisting him," he said quietly before moving on again.

The Ouendan nodded to each other. "Well, I guess that was a successful cheer," Kioshi said. So,

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

(...)

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!! clappity-clappity)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

(...)

TEUUSHH!!

- - - - -

- - - -

- - -

- -

-

They then looked at the cloak and went over to investigate. Their pokémon friends came over as well. "I don't think these are ashes," Suzu said after crouching down and looking at them.

Hibiki sniffed deeply as he stood over the pile. "Is that...eraser?" he muttered.

Kioshi raised his eyebrows as he looked at the remains. "Eraser? Since when did cremation turn someone into eraser dust?" he asked, leaning over it.

Dragonair raised an eyeridge, then lit up her wing-like ears very slowly using Flash. "Draaaaaaaaa..." she droned gently.

As the scene was lit up more clearly with a closer source of light (the fire of the lab was burning bright--thankfully it had not yet reached the forest--but was not bright enough to get a good look over here), the Ouendan stepped back in surprise as they saw a mound of what was unmistakably black-blotched pink eraser dust.

They looked at one another with widened eyes and blued foreheads. "I think things are starting to get just a bit weird," Kioshi said slowly.

"Yyyyyyeah," Hibiki agreed. "Just a little."

"A big, super-rare pokémon just destroyed a guy in a cloak who was fighting with pencils and paper...and turned him into eraser dust..." Suzu shivered. "What is this, magic? Spirits?"

"Whatever it is," Kioshi said, looking around him, "I say we head back on our way to Vermillion now that our work here is done."

They all nodded in agreement and began walking back the way they had come. Behind them, the remains of Dr. One were slowly blown away by the wind. The cloak was last to go, and it kicked up into the sky, silhouetting (I can't spell that word) against the moon. It appeared to float there for a moment before it was blown far away into the distance.

- - -

Back at the Evening Ouendan dojo, Doumeki watched with concern. "If this is truly happening," he muttered, "then something's about to occur. Something that isn't good." He clenched his fists. "Be careful, everyone."

- - - - -

And so the wonders of Pokémon, again, never cease to amaze. ;)


	25. Get It On

_____

(25)_*_*_( ) (Ties) (That) (Band)

The day shone brightly off of the sides of grand buildings around us. People walked this way and that, filling the sidewalks even during work hours in the afternoon. Cars went by, stopping frequently as they continuously hit stoplights. It was a grand city that we were in, and the congestion of it all was starting to get to me. "I know I'm used to living in the city," I muttered, crossing my arms as we trailed Ash and the others, "but something's really irking me here..."

Hunter frowned at me. "What, the smog, maybe?" he suggested.

"Or it may be that we're all so used to walking through forests, we've lost our acclimation to the city," theorized Meyers.

"Or maybe it's this heat," Ash tried, wiping his brow. "It'll make anyone impatient, especially when they're wearing black suits like you are."

I shrugged. "Whatever, I guess it's both, I dunno," I said.

"Well, cheer up, Lock," Brock said over his shoulder, smiling. He had the guide book in his hands, opened to the part referring to this city. "We're just passing through for a bit after we visit the labs. And don't worry," he added, looking back at the book, "Riverhelm normally isn't this trafficky. I think it's just because it's after the lunch hour that there's so many people around."

Ash and Pikachu looked around. I watched them, their faces curious as they took in their surroundings. Pikachu noticed I was watching. He looked at me for a split second before smiling and waving. I shrugged and nodded back. At this, Pikachu stopped, a little disappointed look on his face. I looked over at Hunter when he said something, so I didn't see Pikachu's eyes widen and mouth drop a little in a gasp.

"Pi...?" he whispered. Around me was a slight shimmering haze again, like at the hot springs. He could swear he saw something floating behind me, as well.

"Huh? What's up, Pikachu?" Ash asked, noticing the sound his friend made.

Pikachu looked at him and shook his head, saying (in his language) that it was nothing. When he looked back at me, though, I appeared to be normal again, looking in his general direction. He rubbed his eyes with an arm. "Must be the exhaust from the cars or something," he muttered.

"So, Brock, anything else about this city apart from the labs?" Dawn asked.

Brock looked through his book and smiled. "Well, it's got a history for being quite in sync with pokémon," he said. "It's been built specifically to help make pokémon feel more at home than in other cities, building it with as much green material as possible."

"You mean things that don't impact the environment too much?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, like recycled things from old buildings, and even old tires for some things," Brock answered, nodding. "They also encourage trainers to let their pokémon out. I don't think we should, though, since it's so tight already," he advised. "Let's see...Oh, the book also says that the city's law enforcement uses pokémon quite extensively, and they even recently implemented a system using Psychic-types for the case of a catastrophe that would involve the destruction of buildings."

Ash and I sniggered. "You mean like if a giant monster attacks?" the trainer asked.

"Sorry, but even with all the weird things that can happen with pokémon, Godzilla coming to town and going to town on town sounds a little far-fetched," I said, waving a hand.

At the last word, ten people around me stopped and looked around, saying, "Where?!"

I slapped my forehead. "I think that's getting a bit old," I growled.

"Ditto," agreed Meyers.

Those same people stopped and looked around, going, "Where?!" again.

I anger-veined a bit and growled louder, "Okay, this isn't helping how crabby I am already..."

"Where?" went Ash, looking around. He chuckled and looked at me with a mischievous grin. "Sorry, you walked right into that one," he apologized.

I, however, was seriously about to hit him, anger-veining very noticibly and glaring at Ash. Pikachu gasped as he saw my body's outline shimmering again, as well as those eyes floating behind me once more. 'I know it's hot, but that doesn't look like heat, and it doesn't explain the eyes...' Before I could do anything, though, our badges went off. They didn't beep, though--they rang.

"Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring-ring! Phone call, phone call!"

I stopped and blinked at this before giving a look at my backups. "Who changed the ringtone?" I asked a bit menacingly. They shook their heads, looking utterly surprised.

Regardless, we all stopped and we flipped open the devices. We were stopped nearby a corner, and the traffic had died down a little by then. Commander Kahn appeared on our screens, sitting in his desk as usual, with the usual frowning expression on his face. ""Commander!"" saluted my teammates, but I just frowned a bit and asked, "Where's the fire, Commander?"

Kahn just raised an eyebrow at me, and I wondered if he was gonna yell at me. 'I don't care,' I thought. 'I'll just hang up.' He said nothing, however, and nodded. "Agents, greetings. We've called to ask you if you need anything."

We looked at each other and shrugged, shaking our heads. "Nothing that we can't get here," Meyers said. "Why do you ask?"

Kahn, for once, gave a positive facial expression. He smirked. "Diva Foxx has managed to get a little progress on the portal," he answered proudly. "We'd like to experiment by trying to send you some stuff over."

Behind and unbeknownst to us (even Ash and co., since they were, as always, looking over our shoulders at Kahn; Pikachu was acting oddly, though, seeming to want to be away from me, which was hard, seeing as his ride was peeping over my shoulder (to my aggrivation)), people stopped to look and whisper as something big walked over, carrying a case. Pikachu looked behind as he felt the vibrations of its great weight and raised his eyebrows. "Pika...?"

I raised my eyebrows with everyone else. "Really??" I asked. I grinned mischeivously. "Can you send over the car?"

What appeared to be a black charizard was making its way over to the center of the large bit of sidewalk the corner consisted of. (There was a corner store there, but the road was still a normal one, so there was more space than normal.) People on the benches sitting and waiting for people or just resting looked at it in wonder, and someone took out a pokédex.

Kahn frowned again, giving me a nonplussed look. "Very funny," he commented sarcastically. "Nice try, though. A, you don't have your driver's, as my records say; B, I'd never trust you to drive it until you're up in rank--"

"Read: When you're older," Hunter translated, smirking.

"--C, you'd have to give everyone a ride, since you're travelling with Ash; D, you CAN'T drive, seeing as there aren't many real roads there; and finally E, we can't send it, anyway--it's too large," he concluded.

It looked quite different for a charizard, let alone a black one. For one, it appeared to be just enough to be more than a little overweight.

I gave Kahn a hard glare. "Then why'd'ya have to burn me with all that before saying the real reason?!" I demanded to know.

For another, its eyes seemed to be full of a kind of life that has seen things a charizard normally doesn't.

Kahn just shook his head. "Regardless, we want to send you some things that we think you'll like to have, and would help you greatly."

Also, it wore a jacket on its body. It rolled its eye over to us, looking at Pikachu, after crouching to set down its case and open it. Pikachu blushed and looked away, not wanting to be accused of staring. The charizard smiled, though, and looked back to getting something shiny out of the case.

"How fast will they get here?" Meyers asked.

"We don't know," Kahn replied, shaking his head. "Ah, there you are," he said, seeing someone we couldn't. "Is it working well?"

"It should," said the voice of a woman.

"Diva Foxx?" asked Hunter. "Is that you?"

A giggle. "I was getting worried you'd forgotten my voice," Foxx said. "Good."

"Just set it up over there," pointed Kahn, directing her to his right and to what would have been the corner of the room. "Is Missy coming with the things?" he asked.

"Yes; I've already got the chips."

"Hmm." Kahn nodded. "Well, we'll call you again when we're all set up. Dismissed!"

""YESSIR!!"" Meyers and Hunter went, saluting before closing their badges. I just grunted and nodded.

"Oh, and Lock," Kahn called before I could close mine. "We've analyzed the last episode you were in and found something disturbing." He steepled his fingers and lowered his head to hide the lower part of his face behind them. "I want you to be very wary of yourself. Don't let yourself get out of control. And, please, remember that you're representing the Elite Beat Agents; recall that you should act sensible."

Before he could say anything else, the last sentence sunk in and I gritted my teeth. "Ex-CUSE me?!" I asked. "Did you just tell me to act like I've got some sense?!"

"Well, yes, but not--" Kahn began.

"For YOUR information, I'm acting PERFECTLY NORMAL, thank you very much!!" I scolded him.

Behind me, Pikachu and, further behind, the charizard, looked at me. The first blue-foreheaded (new self-made term!) and the second just raised its eyerides. It was slowly fiddling with something in its paws, too busy focusing on the scene to the left of him.

Kahn narrowed his eyebrows a smidgen. "Now, Agent Lock, there's no need to shout in public," he said curtly, "especially not to your superior like that."

I squeezed the badge tightly and clenched my other fist while I retorted, "You know what?! I just figured out I don't NEED to listen to your bossing around, Mr. finally-getting-around-to-the-portal-after-a-month-of-wasting-time-since-I'm-so-important!!"

Kahn narrowed his eyebrows a bit more. "We've been working as hard as we can on getting you out," he insisted, trying to keep his patience. "You know that. I would never abandon my Agents, any of them."

"But you sure as hell prioritize," I attacked. "You said yourself that rank has something to do with trusting me to do something--drive the car! And I can't get arrested if I drive here!" The hand holding the badge began to shake. "You're just letting lower-ranked Agents like me hang out here while catering to your upper-ranked ones!!"

Pikachu was shaking his head. He stopped and looked at me again, then squeaked and reeled back a bit. "Ka!!" he cried. "Lock!!" The charizard frowned uneasily, but looked away and did something. Closeby people could hear the sound of air blowing through something.

Kahn's eyebrows lowered a bit more. "Lock, shut up and listen to yourself!" he commanded firmly, a note of urgency in his voice. "For one, you're making a scene--"

"--then I'm doing my job!!" I reasoned. "A shitty job I don't get paid enough to DO, actually!! Walking around with a bunch of DORKS and helping out some LOSERS with things they should just do themselves?! Some living!!"

"LOCK!!" cried Kahn, Meyers, Hunter, Ash, and (in his language) Pikachu before I slammed my badge shut. My teammates each gave me a good clout on the shoulder. Seeing that, Pikachu let out a little sigh of relief. "That ought to work," he said, closing his eyes.

I reeled around to my attackers. "WELL, IT'S THE TRUTH!!" I roared, holding my fists up. "YOU GOTTA PROBLEM WITH THAT?!"

Pikachu raised his head and opened his eyes again at this. He gasped in horror. My body's outline was shimmering violently, like it was surrounded by very hot air, and behind me, a great pair of red, glowing eyes, narrowed in rage, floated, burning with fire that gave the pokémon a harsh, chilling clutch in his chest. "What the HELL is going on, Lock?!" he squeaked, trembling.

Ash put his hand on my shoulder. "What's gotten into you, Lock?!" he asked, concerned vehemence in his voice.

Well, I knew that it was actually offence, so I did the best thing that came to mind: I reeled back and--

Ba-DAAAAAAA-Ba-da-buh-ba-duh-ba-DAAaaaAAAA Da-BAAA-da-b-d-buh-DAA-uh-WAAAHHhh!!

It was like an invisible hand had grabbed my arm as soon as the sound hit my tympanic membrane, almost before it had gone through the hammer, anvil, stirrup, cochlea, and the nerve connecting to my brain to send the message of the sound occuring. (Sorry, non Human Phys and/or Psych folks out there...) It felt like a bubble popping, but a little slower as the sound continued. The longer it went, the more the bubble popped. Finally, when it was over, I blinked, standing still like an idiot. "What the...?" I muttered. I looked at my arm and raised my eyebrows. I looked at who was in front of me and sweatdropped. "HUH?!" I staggered back. "What was I...?" I looked at everyone.

My teammates looked like they were about to kill me, Ash looked like that, too, but with more concern, and his friends were looking at me with a bit of fright on their faces.

I blinked a moment. "What...Wait, was I...?" I then saw something shiny behind Ash and a memory came. "Oh! I heard a trumpet!" I said, realizing how stupid that sounded. I looked around Ash. "Good improv, too. Was I hearing things, or who was..." I stopped, blinking, before I gaped.

Everyone turned, one at a time, to see where I was looking, and stepped back in surprise.

There was a chubby, shiny charizard standing there, wearing a marching coat and holding a trumpet in its paws and up to its lips. It had all three digits of its right paw on the keys and was using its left paw to hold the instrument itself up. Its eyes were closed, but slowly opened after everyone turned to see. It blinked as it saw me. It said something in its language that made Pikachu perk his ears up and look over his shoulder at me.

I was totally normal...well...almost. He thought he saw just a shadow of a shimmer around me. He smiled in relief, anyway. "It worked, indeed," he said.

"...Well, WHAT was playing it, I guess is a better question," Brock said.

The charizard gave a smile at this and shook its head a smidgen, drawing up to full height. With a bit of dignity--or was it slyness?--in its eyes as it looked at me, it took a breath and started to play the trumpet before out very eyes. And it was GOOD.

Mystified, we stood and watched it play, and as it continued to play, I began to feel more of that feeling. It didn't take much longer before I realized that it was groove that I was feeling. I felt the urge to play my instrument, too, rise and rise. I was tapping my foot to the beat and snapping my fingers, practically lost in my own little world.

- - -

Meanwhile, back at HQ, Commander Kahn was looking at the screens the episode was being displayed on (it was being done like how they sometimes do in stores or shows, where there's many individual screens, but they all show a bit of the action and create the whole picture together) with concern. "Very disturbing, indeed," he commented. "It seems it's getting stronger. Already, it's become immune to physical disruption."

"But it looks like part of Lock is still stronger," Foxx added, smirking. Beside her, inside a large metal hoop with spikes, the hoop about 1.2 times as big as one of the hula variety, was a crackling, violet, strange vortex, floating in the center and about the size of a basketball. "I remember something he told me once during the time you never gave him any missions." She looked over at the portal. "Oh, it's ready. I'd better get Missy."

The young diva was already running into the room, carrying a black case. "Commander!!" she cried. "I saw it all! Will he be alright?" she asked.

Foxx stood and shook her hands. "Missy, slow down!!" she cried.

Missy was too late, though, and her foot caught on a thick cable lying across the floor connecting to the portal. "WOAAAHHGH!!" she cried, flying and twisting to the left. The case she had flew out of her hands before she slammed into the floor. "...ooowwwww..."

The case flew right into the portal, barely small enough to go through. As it did, it vanished with an electric crackle. Foxx sighed and shook her head aggrivatedly. "Missy..." she groaned, putting a hand to her forehead.

Missy snapped up, a look of concern on her face as she looked at the portal. "Oh, is it going to be alright?" she asked worriedly. "It felt like it had something a bit heavy in it. Is it going to survive?"

"If it's the stuff I asked you to get, I don't know," Foxx said.

"You wanted me to get the case from his room, right?" the youngest Diva checked.

"No, the one from my room," Foxx replied, raising her eyebrows.

Missy blue-squiggle-cheeked (another new self-made term!), making the "yeek" face. "Then I just probably sent something valuable of his towards destruction!!" she yipped.

Suddenly, a deep chuckle was heard, and the girls looked at the desk. "I wouldn't worry about that," Commander Kahn assured her, back to them--thus hiding his amused smirk.

- - -

A purply portal opened up above me while I watched the charizard go. I was starting to feel the chording he was feeling, recognizing the key ages ago. When I heard a crackling ripping sound above me, I glanced up and raised my eyebrows in surprise. A case fell out of the portal before it closed. I caught the case just in time before it hit my head. "Eh?" I brought it to eye level and gasped. A grin spread across my face as impulse took over and told me to open the case NOW.

The charizard was doing quite well, moving its neck to and fro as it got into the music. Its eyes were closed and its playing masked much else, so when people asked questions and footsteps came towards him, he didn't notice. He DID notice, however, when, after he took a breath to start the next phrase,

Be-da-ba-doo-BA-DAA-BAAAA-da-ba-b-b-da-boo-da BAAAHH da-ba-daaah!!

It opened its eyes with a grunt and looked to its right at the bell of another trumpet. The bell lowered and revealed the player to be me. I had jumped in, unable to resist, and began to play in the same key as the pokémon, doing improv as well.

The charizard smirked, raising an eyeridge, and came in again after giving me eight measures. I stopped and let him, as I began to assume, do some, and it turned into a play-off. First he did eight, then I did, before I got impatient and did the last four measures of his next eight. He growled in friendly competition and turned to play at me, doing four. I turned to him, too, and did four, too. He did two, then I did two, and we went halfs down until we were playing at the same time. After that, we played together, which I signified by starting up a background accompaniament while he went and continued.

- - -

Foxx smirked. "If there's one thing about him, he said," she said, "it's that he loves to trumpet out jazz."

- - -

Together, me and the charizard did a great duet, finishing out the song by doing a good ol' fashioned jazz improv ending. We ended at the same note and the same time, and let down our horns from our lips (and my agonizing cheeks--that's what happens when you get out of practice, and sadly sometimes when you haven't) simultaneously. The small crowd around us cheered and clapped, and people reached and put money into the open case of the pokémusician's. We smiled at each other before we looked around and bowed. After that, we shook hands--well, hand and paw--and I went to join my friends. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," I apologized, holding a hand up.

Nobody was glaring at me, but I still got the feeling something wasn't quite right. It was then that I recalled all of what I did. 'Oh, my God, I did it again,' I realized, stopping cold. "Oh, my..." I whispered.

Hunter and Meyers nodded. "Yeah, remember?" Hunter asked. "I don't know what the heck's goin' on witchu, but we'd better see a doctor or somethin' about this bipolar thing or whatever's going on."

"But are you in a good mood, now, then?" asked Meyers. "I mean, jazz trumpet usually gets you...well, jazzed up, right?" He chuckled at his joke.

I nodded, smirking. "And two bells are better than one," I added, nodding back to the trumpeting charizard, who was starting up a normal song now. I could tell, since it wasn't as random as improv. It was still jazz, though, so I wanted to stop and listen.

Sadly, that was not to be. Our badges beeped and we turned to flip them open. I expected Kahn to come up again, to talk to me about what happened, but all that came up was the mission breifing. As it came up, as usual, Ash and company peeked over our shoulders. However, the charizard was joining them, though just by looking with his eyes, continuing to play. (He played without a score, anyway, so it didn't matter that much.)

- - - - -

The summer sun beat down upon the city of Riverhelm like a furnace. A young man with short brown hair and green eyes, dressed in a police officer's uniform (of the style worn by all policemen and -women in Pokémon), kissed a girl with long, wavy brunette hair and chocolate-brown eyes while the two stood outside of a police station. "Have a nice time at the lab," bade the man as they parted, smiling.

(Officer Abe Mahogany, 19, Rookie Police Officer)

The girl smiled and giggled at him. She had on a normal t-shirt and a miniskirt. "And you have a nice time keeping this city safe," she bade back.

(Elodie Autumnleaf, 19, Voluntary Test Subject)

Her boyfriend sighs and nervously(?) puts on his badge after watching his girlfriend walk off. Sometime later, we see her standing in a chamber, wearing different clothing. "Ready," she said calmly.

A few men in lab coats operate a console or stand and observe from a windowed room. "Alright, exposing the pokémon DNA and integrating energy...now," said one of the observers, and one of the console-workers pressed a button.

A warm glow emits from the floor as eerie green energy begins to surround Elodie. At the same time, a light on the device strapped to her back turns red. A few moments pass before Elodie gasps and widens her eyes. "UNGH!" she grunts, bending double and holding her stomach.

"What's wrong?" asked a scientist in panic. The camera is looking at the window with an extreme close-up of part of Elodie's back, which is trembling. Suddenly, some of the skin tears to reveal light brown beneath it. "!!"

A little bit earlier to this, though, Abe is busy doing his job...well, not really.

"NO! Get back here!" Abe cried, reaching after a man carrying a sack and running off. He tripped, though, landing on his face and spilling his hat to the ground. He looked up in dismay as the criminal ran off, making a face at him. "Dang it..."

"Mahogany!"

Abe looked up when a pair of legs crosses in front of him. He sweatdropped as he saw the disgruntled and disappointed face of Riverhelm's Officer Jenny.

(Officer Jenny, won't tell, Abe's Superior)

"O-Officer Jenny!" Abe addressed, scrabbling to stand up while grabbing his hat. He jammed it on his head, flustered and fixed it, brushed himself off, and finally stood at saluting attention, all in one panicked little jig.

Jenny sighed and shook her head, arms crossed. "Abe, that's the fourth crook you've let get away in a row," she told him. "I know you're fresh from the acadamy, but that doesn't excuse it. I know you can do better, though, so I'm going to give you another chance."

Abe frowned and bowed. "I'm sorry, Officer Jenny," he apologized. "I won't mess up again."

Jenny bowed her head, closing her eyes. "I'm not finished," she told him, snapping him back up to saluting in one frame. She looked at him with one eye open. "Should you fail again..." She stood straight and pointed at him with both eyes open and a look of serious authority. "...I'm sending you back to the academy!!"

Abe paled at this. "Y-Y-Yes, ma'm," he stuttered.

"Now, get back to the station until I give you your next orders," Jenny told him, pointing to the station a block away.

A few minutes later, though, a huge tremor was felt throughout the city. (This "few minutes later" was precisely the same time as the present, so we felt it, as well. The charizard's playing was interrupted by it, and he waved his arms around while fighting to keep his balance, going, "WOAH-oh-OH-oh-OH..." We all yelped and fought to keep balanced, too, but we kept our eyes focused on our badges.) We saw a shot of the labs downtown, watching as it gradually grew more and more cracks. Then, with a loud CRRAAABOOOM!!, a giant (and become gianter) kangaskhan burst out of the building's domed roof, roaring. Eerie green energy surrounded it as it grew bigger and bigger, finally stopping at thirty feet tall. The green energy faded away when it was finished.

As it grew, of course, people started to run. A few, however, decided to take advantage of the chaos, if you know what I mean. Back at the station and on every police radio in the city, Officer Jenny ordered, "All units, report! We've got a massive situation on our hands! Help evacuate the city and take care of anyone looting during the panic!"

Abe, who was relaxing in his desk, leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head and his feet on his desk while he looked out the window, grinned. "This is my chance! I'll prove I can do SOMEthing right!" he said excitedly. He put a hand to his chin and looked concerned, though. "But...what about the cause of this disaster?"

"Officer Abe?" crackled Jenny's voice on his walkie-talkie.

"Here," Abe answered, picking it off his belt.

"I'm sorry, but it's best if you let the rest of the force handle this," she apologized.

Abe dropped his jaw in shock, but soon had a lightbulb and snapped it back up. "I understand," he replied before putting the walkie-talkie on his belt and getting out of his chair.

He fired up his motorcycle and raced out of the station, making his way to the labs. 'I'll just go and find out what's going on for myself!' he reasoned.

By now, Gigaskhan, as people had come to call it, had stomped off to destroy the city, eyes glowing red and enraged. It smashed a building, dislodging a piece of it and letting it fall to the concrete below along with its passengers. We saw the inside of it, and our hearts caught in our chests as we were suddenly reminded of our generation's great disaster...

Deep underground, inside of a huge, computer-filled room, stood the most psychic-types we've ever seen in one place. Grumpig, espeon, members of the entire abra chain...Tons of them. Some cops were there, too, and as they saw, on a video, the same footage we did, a few pointed and cried, "NOW!!"

In an instant, some of the pokémon used their powers and focused on the people. Right before they all hit the ground--and people--everyone who would have suffered disappered. Behind the pokémon and police, they appeared. They fell from midair and grunted as they landed on the foam landing pad. The people looked around, confused for a moment, before one of them went, "WOAH!! It works!!"

"Yeah," another went. "Riverhelm's ultra-pricey Assault Crisis Defence Program!"

"Of course! They used psychic-types to teleport people about to get hurt or worse from the buildings and streets to this underground place!"

"And here -I- was saying it was a waste of my tax pokédollars..."

Meanwhile, on the surface, Abe screeched to a halt by the ruinous remains of the lab. "Here!" He jumped out and raced across the wreckage, calling, "Hello! Anyone alright?"

"H-Here!" croaked a weak voice. Abe raced over to find a scientist, the same one who had been giving orders earlier, supporting himself on a broken wall.

The officer supported him, now, instead, and asked, "Anyone else alive? Is an Elodie Autumnleaf okay?"

"Yes, we're all okay," said the scientist. "Miss Autumnleaf, as well."

Abe breathed a sigh of relief as people from an ambulence that had just pulled up came over. "Good."

"But...she's..." the scientist tried to continue, but a loud roar drowned out anything else he had to say.

Abe, now knowing his girlfriend was alright, gave the scientist to the medics. "Thanks. I think it's time to take care of this thing," he said determinedly. He raced to his motorcycle before the massive exodus did it in, just in time to hear something on the radio. Across the other end of the road, he saw the oversized normal-type stomping around.

"All pokémon attacks appear to be doing no good to this...this Gigaskhan!" reported an officer. Abe paled. 'What?'

"We've got to focus on helping the people! There's no point in trying to hurt it if we can't!" Abe looked up and saw Gigaskhan grab a chunk of building.

"Call for the special forces, then! It may be a pokémon, but we can't let it destroy the city any further!!" Gigaskhan threw the chunk down the street in Abe's direction, though he was too busy getting his helmet on, shaking in fear, to notice. When he heard this, though, he stopped and gasped.

"But...But it's still a pokémon!!" he cried, looking up at it. "If only it could get out of the city...I've got to try! WOAH!!" He noticed the chunk falling down towards him and ducked. It didn't even come close, but it DID utterly crush a car nearby. He gaped at this, face white as a sheet. "...OOOOR I'm the craziest cop in Sinnoh," he muttered before his emotions finally hit a fever pitch. He raised his head to the skies and cried,

**"HEEEEEEEAAAAALLP!!"**

- - - - -

We looked at each other, sweatdropping, while people raced around us away. Me and Ash then remembered what we said earlier and chuckled nervously to each other.

"Me and my big mouth, eh?" I joked.

"I'll say," Ash agreed.

"Agents!"

Our attention was called back to the screens when Kahn's voice came back. """COMMANDER!""" we all three saluted.

Kahn nodded at this. "Thank you, but be alert; we're sending over chips that will replace your shoes' jet function. Use them and get over to help Abe, pronto! DIS-MISSED!!"

"""YESSIR!!""" we said, and he was over and out. We turned to each other. "When do you think they'll come?" Meyers asked.

"I dunno, but I think that's how my trumpet case came falling out of the sky to make a beeline to my noggin," I shrugged. I tilted my head and crossed my arms. "But why on Earth would they send me my trumpet when it wasn't needed?"

"Speaking of music, what's the song gonna be?" Hunter asked.

"'Livin' in the City'?" suggested Meyers.

"Naw, that's a night song," said Hunter. "What about the theme song to Cops?"

I looked at my trumpet while we spoke. "Ugh, it's hot," I muttered, wiping my brow. Suddenly, things chain-reactioned in my head towards a huge lightbulb that lit up not just the space above me, but my face as well. "THAT'S IT!!" I cried, snapping my finger and pointing at my friends. "It's summer in the city, though that's not the song I'm thinking of," I began. "But that theme is pretty much like one of those old, 80's or something cop shows, and this is about a cop, and we're ON tv, so how about we do something that's kinda in that theme?"

They looked totally blank at me. "...Cut to the chase, please?" asked Meyers.

"Another hint, you just said it," I said, grinning. "And one more's in my hand."

It didn't take long for them to put it together. They grinned. "Ah-HAH! 'Get--" Meyers began before I shushed him and nodded.

"You're both gonna have to pull some singin' weight, though, since there's no way I'm not doing at least SOME of the trumpet," I warned them, winking.

At this time, the portal opened above us, and three little baggies, each with two thin, square computer chips, fell down. We caught them expertly and held them in our palms. "Alright, we've got 'em!" Hunter said triumphantly.

Suddenly, someone from the passing river bumped into another, and that person stumbled out and knocked into us. The chips flew away and into the mad rush, where we could distinctly hear a few crunch! sounds. We looked in horror at this. "Aaaaand we don't got 'em," Meyers said.

I stamped my foot. "Great! We'll never reach him in time if we can't fly over there!" I complained. "What're we supposed to do now? We can't wait for him to send more!"

Suddenly, me and Hunter were grabbed and pressed together towards Meyers, then all of us were grabbed around the middle and pressed to something big and soft. """Woah!!""" We looked up and saw a smiling charizard looking at us. "Are you going to...?" I asked, and he nodded. I smiled back and nodded. "Thank you very much!"

The charizard nodded again, this time resolutely. He crouched, spread his wings, and took off.

As we took off, I shouted down to the others, "JUST FIND A PLACE TO HANG OUT WHILE WE DO THIS!! WE'LL FIND YOU LATER!!"

"GOOD LUCK, AGENTS!!" called Ash, who was soon joined by Pikachu, Brock, and Dawn, before the group went and followed the flow, saying something about finding a Center.

-:-:-

We fell from the sky as the charizard dropped us and swooped off. We landed in front of Abe and I showed him my badge.

**-:-:-MISSION: Oh, Snap, It's The 5-O! Playing Cops and Monsters!!-:-:-**

"The Elite Beat Agents are at your service! You lay down the law, we'll provide backup!" I announced proudly to him.

Abe got on his motorcycle and looked at the river of people going away from Gigaskhan--towards him. He groaned. "I dunno which is gonna be harder: Getting that pokémon out, or getting TO it in the first place..."

We started our wave, catching him in it. "WOOOOOOAAAH!!"

"""Are you ready? ...3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

-I need your lovin'

-I said I want your lovin'

-I need you every minute of the day, now

-Girl, listen what I say

-Get it on in the morning, now!

As we sang and danced to Bill Chase's "Get It On", Abe began his journey. At first, he was motering along slowly, making his way between the people while barely avoiding hitting them. Then, he couldn't avoid one in time, had to hit the brakes, and ended up separating from his motorcycle as both began to be helplessly carried by the human river away. This didn't last long, though, and soon, he was roaring along, siren going off and lights flashing as he zoomed by. People got out of the way of him, and when they didn't, he weaved in and out with expert riding. The way he went, even though it was to be expected when a target gets a lot of energy, gave us the feeling that he's ridden motorcycles for a long time.

Abe heard a crumbling and looked up. "Huh? WOAH!" Some debris was raining from a previously damaged building. An idea came to his head. "Hey..." He revved his cycle and raced to the debris. "I must be crazy, but I'll never get by in time otherwise!!" He made a huge jump with his motorcycle, the biggest bunny hop I'd ever seen. He WAS experienced. When he landed, though, it was atop a piece of debris. With astounding speed and timing, he climbed the rain of debris like a salmon swims up a waterfall! In moments, he landed on top of a roof, free of traffic. "Oh, YEAH!" he whooped as he looked behind him at his work. "I hope someone's putting that on YouTube!"

**---(O)---**

(-)(Short trumpet instrumental)

(-)I want you when the moon shines bright

(-)I said I want you when the time is right

(-)I need you all through the night, now

(-)I have feeling all inside

(-)Get it on in the morning, now!

(-)(Trumpet)

(The charizard swooped in to grab us as soon as we were done, and he held us in one arm while he, with the helping hand of Hunter to support the instrument, played trumpet along with me during the instrumental. I sang when I had to, but went back to playing, even playing with one arm up while I swayed him in next.)

Some other police officers were escorting kids out of a school. "C'mon, hurry!" said one, holding his arms out and making beckoning motions with a hand. Above, Gigaskhan was coming closer to them. Abe screeched to a halt, grimacing and sweatdropping.

"Not the kids!" he gasped. "Oh!" He had an idea.

"HEY! Over here, lardbag!!" At this, Gigaskhan whipped around with a seething glare at Abe. He was holding a bullhorn he'd used to shout at it in one hand while spanking his butt at the giant with the other. After a roar, he hopped on his bike and started off.

"Get ready, guys!" I said to my comrades, and with my trumpet (and the charizard's), we started the chorus on the rooftop.

-I'm-a gonna tell you just what I'm-a gonna do!

-(Trumpet)

-I'm gonna make LOOOVE to you!

-(Trumpet)

-That's the kinda feelin', and it just won't quit!

-(Trumpet)

-I said-a c'mon girl, now, this is it!

-Get it on in the morning, now!

-(2-measure trumpet break, not the 4-measure normally used)

-I've a feelin' it's gonna be you

-I've a feelin' it's gonna be me

-It's gonna be just you and me

-In ecstacyyyyy(trumpet start)

-(AWESOME trumpet part that is quite different from what's been heard up to then)

-WOOOAAAAAWW!!

(Note: If anyone knows what the lyrics REALLY are, tell me. I found a site with them, but I don't think they're 100% right; I'm not sure. I just put down what I heard, so yeah.)

At first, Abe was doing awesome, riding laps across three roofs while doing riding tricks and taunting Gigaskhan, who was too busy trying to hit Abe to focus on the school. The children and faculty, meanwhile, were being led out safely. Then, Gigaskhan must have lost interest a bit, since it was now slowly trying to destroy the school. It was moderately distracted and annoyed by Abe, who was calling loudly to attract its attention. At times, Gigaskhan anger-veined, turned and swung at Abe, who ducked down to avoid it, before going back to work. The evacuees were hurrying out chaotically, scared, with the children screaming. Then, for a breif amount of time, no matter what poor Abe did--shout loudly, wave his arms around, or even shoot with his pistol--Gigaskhan paid no heed and was busilly destroying the school. The inhabitants of the school were screaming and clinging to one another, debris raining around them. Thankfully, though, Abe somehow managed to attract Gigaskhan's attention once more and was riding across the rooftops again.

Gigaskhan swung at Abe as he went one way, dancing on his motorcycle seat like a leprechan, and missed. He went another, and it missed again while he slapped his butt at it. Yet another way, when he was just shouting through his bullhorn, and he dodges the third swing by jumping.

Below, the cops shooed the last ones out. "Go, go, go!" They then turned to face Abe, smiling and grinning and breathing sighs of relief. "YO, ABE! GOOD JOB, THANKS!!" they shouted.

Abe wiped his brow. "Phew!"

**---(O)---**

(-)(Organ instrumental)

Abe jumped right at Gigaskhan, riding down its back and tail to the ground again. "Wheeee!!" On the road again, he turned and called through his bullhorn, "OI! Prime human rib, getting away!" It worked, and he began to lead it out.

(The charizard dropped us off on another rooftop before he landed quickly and joined me in the trumpeting. I complimented Hunter and Meyers on their dancing without me.)

-(Trumpets)

-I got to get it on

-I got to get it on

-I got to get it on

-I got to get it on

-Got to get it on

-Gottogetiton

-GottogetitonIsaida

-I'm-a gonna tell you just what I'm-a gonna do!

-(Trumpet)

-I'm gonna make LOOOVE to you!

-(Trumpet)

-That's the kinda feelin', and it just won't quit!

-(Trumpet)

-I said-a c'mon girl, now, this is it!

-GET IT ON IN THE MORNING, NOW!!

At first, Abe was doing great, riding along vacant streets while keeping Gigaskhan close behind, occasionally calling after with his bullhorn. He had to swerve whenever he saw masses of people, though, but Gigaskhan kept up. Then, he was riding along, turning left and right as needed, but he often had to STOP and call through his bullhorn to get its attention away from building destroying. Then, he must have somehow angered it, since, as we could see from our bird's-eye-view ((and any player would see thanks to a GTA-like mini-map on the top screen during this scene)), he was running like a maniac, screaming and carrying his cycle while Gigaskhan chased him. Thankfully, he got back to the middle-ranked performance.

After a while of riding, Abe turned to see Gigaskhan was still following. "Perfect!" he said. He looked around him and grinned. "I did it! I led it outside the city!!" he cheered, pumping a fist in the air as grass, trees, and flowers met his sight on the roadsides.

**---(O)---**

(-)(The 4-measure trumpet interlude, not the 2-measure)

A car pulled up beside Abe and the same scientist from before unrolled the window and tossed Abe a pokéball that resembled a bell. "Quick! Catch her with this Soothe Ball!" he instructed before driving away again.

'I've got to battle...'her'?' Abe asked in his mind as he turned to look at the behemoth on the field before him.

(The charizard let us down on a knoll and he and I continued to play, leaving it to Meyers and Hunter to say, ""Let's finish out!!"")

-I've a feelin' it's gonna be you

-I've a feelin' it's gonna be me

-It's gonna be just you and me

-In ecstacyyyyy(trumpet start)

-(Trumpet, but shifts to a different key partway through)

At first, Abe, deciding to use his pistol as a weapon since it wasn't lethal to this thing, was dodging more than shooting Gigaskhan. Then, to everyone's dismay (except Gigaskhan's), he was being Stomped on, the giant foot crushing him into the ground while its owner grinned maliciously at him. Something must have clicked, though, and Abe squeezed out and began running around in circles, shooting at her while she tried, to no avail, to hit him. He even jumped up on her and across her face to whack her with his billy club every once in a while! This continued on for the rest of the song.

Abe pulled the trigger to hear a hollow click. "Out of ammo!" he grunted. He looked up and saw Gigaskhan reaching out for him. "Guess it's now or never!" He maximized the Soothe Ball. "Soothe Ball, GO!!" he roared, chucking it at her.

It hit her palm and captured her in a flash of soft blue light. It fell to the ground with, instead of a thump or pokéball TUNG sound, a gentle ring like a bell. It shook a few times, dingling when it did, before the trademark PUUUUUN told the world that Gigaskhan had been caught.

Abe breathed a great sigh of relief at this. "It's finally over," he said.

"HOORAY!!" "YEAAH!!" "GREAT JOB!!"

"Huh?" Abe spun around to see, to his surprise, the entire force, having come up in squad cars, was standing there with some of the citizens of the city and applauding him. He blushed and put a hand behind his head. "Aw...i-it was nothing..."

"Nothing? You call saving an entire city from utter destruction nothing?" Officer Jenny asked, smiling at him. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Abe, I'd say you've more than proved that you're capable of being a police officer. Your position on the Riverhelm Police Department is officially safe."

Abe gasped and smiled, eyes sparkling. "Y...You mean it?" he asked breathlessly.

"Let her out!!" cried the scientist from before, running over. (He'd only parked his car a ways off to avoid the battle.) "She's a test subject you might want to see! We need to see if she's alright!"

"Huh? Okay," Abe said, and he grabbed the ball and opened it. In a normal flash of light, Gigaskhan came out. She was unconcious and lying on her stomach. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she groaned.

"Uuuuuuhnnn...Huh?" She shot her eyes open fully to reveal chocolate-brown irises the size of windowpanes. In front of her was Abe, and when she saw him, she gasped. "Abe? What the--?!"

Abe started at this. "It...can talk?!"

At this, Gigaskhan frowned. "Hey! Since when was your own girlfriend an 'it', Abe?!" she berated him. Her voice sounded familiar.

Abe blinked a moment before it finally sank in. "...Elodie?" he asked gently.

"Yeah?" Gigaskhan replied. Abe's jaw dropped and slammed into the ground. It was then that it dawned on her what was going on. "Wait...I remember! I was in an empathy experiment, and..." She stood and looked at herself. "EEP! I'm still a kangaskhan!" she squeaked, which was saying something for one so big. She then looked at all the people of the city and went down again, bowing in apology. "Riverhelm, I'm terribly sorry for the trouble I've caused. I remember everything, now, including the fact that I did it all at will. It's just something made me feel so angry..."

"That'd be the energy misreacting with the spine-mounted incection device," explained the scientist. "It channeled the energy up your spinal cord and into the part of your brain where you feel anger, or at least that's why you were destructive. No clue how you transformed. Maybe it was an overreaction from fusing your human DNA with pokémon DNA..." He trailed off.

Jenny stepped over to him. "Is there any way she can turn back?" she asked.

"Most likely," the scientist said. "But it will take quite a long time to find a way. I'm sorry, Miss Autumnleaf, and you, Officer Abe," he apologised.

Elodie, having raised her body up a bit and now just on her paws and knees(short as the latter were), smiled and shook her head. "That's alright! I'm fine as my favorite pokémon! Besides, I think I should use my size to help repair the damage I've done."

"Yeah," Abe said, back to his senses. "I agree. Just, erm, honey?" he asked.

"Yes, dear?" Elodie responded, lowering her head down to him. Her head was bigger than he was.

Abe blushed and asked, "You, uh, didn't do anything to me on PURPOSE on purpose, did you?"

Elodie blinked for a second before she got it and just laughed.

That evening, Abe stood proud as he was given a medal of honor for his bravery and protecting the town before the entire city, who clapped and cheered for him. He was as happy as a clam.

(-)(Finishing instrumental)

- - -

The next day sees Abe standing in the city, arresting a criminal, his medal visible. In the background, Elodie is busy helping fix the city, holding a piece of building up while some humans, using her as living scaffolding(if I'm using the term right), worked on re-attatching the piece to the building.

-:-:-

Way before this, however, me, Hunter, Meyers, and the charizard stood and watched Elodie laughing and shaking her head at her boyfriend's question. We looked at each other and nodded. Then, our badges went off again, and we turned around and flipped them open (well, 'we' meaning us Agents). Kahn stood and gave us the thumbs-up. "YEEAAAAHH!!" We knew what to do.

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

(CHUNG!)

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

...

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! *clappity-clappity*)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

...

TEUUSHH!!

- - - - -

- - - -

- - -

- -

-

Kahn sat down again, nodding. "Good job, Agents," he complimented. "And you, too, charizard, for helping with your impressive trumpeting."

The charizard blushed (though it was only visible via the red squiggles used in anime to denote it) and rubbed the back of his long neck. The wind blew his open marching jacket, making a nice scene with the setting sun behind him.

(What follows took place in less than twenty seconds, I swear. It will also be better-understood if you have experienced a march-off before.)

Kahn looked at him and furrowed his brow. "Hmmmmmmmmmmm..." He waited for a moment before abruptly shouting, "DE-tail, A-ten-HUT!"

"""HUT!!""" went me, Meyers, and, to our surprise, the charizard as all three of us snapped to attention. Me and the charizard held our trumpets as we would in marching.

Kahn smirked. "Hm. DE-tail, PA-rade HUT!" he went very quickly.

"""HUT!!""" We spread our legs apart and crossed our arms, "punching" our biceps as we went to parade rest.

"A-ten-HUT!" he went at the same speed.

"""HUT!!""" We went back to attention.

"PA-rade-HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"A-ten-HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"PA-rade-HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"A-ten-HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"Left HASE!"

Meyers, as was his preference, said, "One, two!" as we spun first our feet, then our bodies 90 degrees to the left in the left face. (I was told that I didn't have to go "one, two" each time, and I guess, wherever he learned it, the charizard was told the same.)

"Right HASE!"

Moving our feet in a bit different way, we went 90 in the other way.

"Left HASE!...A-bout HASE!"

We stuck our right toes behind us on "one", then spun ourselves 180 degrees around in the about face.

"Left HASE!...DE-tail, PA-rade HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"A-ten-HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"PA-rade HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"A-ten-HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"PA-rade HUT!"

"""HUT!!"""

"Left HASE!"

"""AS YOU WERE!!"""

We stood for a moment, awaiting further instruction, when we realized something. Me and Meyers looked behind us at the charizard, who was looking serious, as any good marcher should. A split second after we looked at him, he blinked and had the "Wait a...Oh, SHI--" look on his face. He clenched his eyes shut and went, "D'oh!"

"I had a feeling that would work," Kahn said slyly. "Fall out." We fell out and looked at the charizard, who took a step back, face telling us he knew he was busted. "Alright, explain," Kahn told him.

The charizard made some unsure "Um"s, looking around panickedly, before groaning and drooping his upper body and head, closing his eyes. "Um, uh, ah, erm, uh, uh, UH, UH UH AAAAAAAaaawww, crud..." He sighed and shook his head before, eyes still closed, he smiled and held his paws up, eyebrows up in cocky defeat. "Alright, alright, you got me," he admitted. His voice had a charizard's growl to it, but just barely. It was more the voice of a teenage boy than anything.

Kahn nodded. "Explain," he repeated.

The charizard sighed again before raising his head and opening his eyes, the smile fading into a slight look of sadness. "Okay, I'm sorry about acting like that," he began. "My name's Charlie. I'm a proud member of the Evertown Marching Magicians, and...for most of my life...I was human."

We gasped and raised our eyebrows. "Woah! Just like Elodie!" Hunter said.

Charlie shook his head. "She transformed instantly," he said a little brittlely. He looked at our badges. "Mr...Uh, Kahn, was it?"

"Commander Kahn."

"Yeah...How'd you guess?" he asked, walking over a bit to look into mine. I held it more parallel to the ground to help him.

"I doubt a charizard would ever go through the trouble of learning how to play trumpet, let alone as well as you do," Kahn answered. "And I doubt they'd go through the trouble of making or getting a marching jacket with wingholes."

Charlie chuckled and pulled his jacket tighter. "True, true," he admitted. "Let's not forget a jacket that fits him."

"Yeah," sniggered Meyers, poking Charlie's stomach with his finger.

Charlie growled and said, voice raised a little, "It's not nice to remind people of things they don't want that got there for no real explicable reason." He was blushing as he said this, as well as sweatdropping.

Kahn nodded. "Right. Well, again, thank you, Charlie, for supplying trumpet to 'Get It On' with Lock," he said. "You play very good, especially for something that I doubt has lips well-adapted to trumpeting."

Charlie smirked. "What, you think I can't trumpet easilly?" he asked. "Dragons bugle all the time!" He laughed and shook his head. "Sorry, bad joke, bad joke."

Kahn raised an eyebrow, then lowered it again. "Right. Well, thank you, as well, for transporting my Agents."

"No problem," Charlie said, waving a paw dismissively. "I heard Lock's riddle, and I knew I HAD to come and do it. It was fun," he chuckled.

"Right. Now, Agents, I reccomend that you all go and find Ash and the others," Kahn continued. "I would appreciate it if Charlie could assist in this matter, but ground recon would be alright, as well."

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, 'cuz I'm kinda out of breath from playing AND flying with three grown teenage men...and a little extra weight, regardless," he added, glaring at his middle. He punched his stomach, making us all (including Kahn) sweatdrop when it swallowed his entire fist. "Die, you evil, white blob!" he growled.

"Alright, ground it is," Kahn said, shaking off the sweatdrop. "We'd send those chips again, but we've decided that it would be better to repair them by having you throw them into a portal while we send you something else, then having us fix them. We'd...have to experiment, first, before you potentially throw out your only pair of multi-function shoes," he added. "Regardless, I think that's enough for now. Well done, Agents. Oh, and Lock."

"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Remember to examine what you're doing as often as you can. If you find yourself doing something against your nature, STOP. I don't know if you'll be able to, but it might work." He nodded. "Right. DIS-MISSED!"

"""YESSIR!!""" We snapped our badges shut and put them in our pockets once more.

Charlie looked at us with a pair of impressed, raised eyeridges. "You guys aren't your everyday men in black, I'll give you that," he told us, smiling wryly.

"We just do what we do," I said, shrugging. "Well, we'd better get going, unless you don't mind walking around a lot. I mean...well, no offence, but it looks kinda..." I sweatdropped as I searched for a good word.

"Hard?" asked Charlie. He chuckled and shook his head. "Naw, I told you, I've been human most my life. I'm used to walking. Hell, I MARCH, in case you're more clueless than FT."

((Huh? Someone say my name? -looks around the room-))

I had no clue who he was talking about, but I dismissed it as just that--someone I didn't know.

((Ohhh...Uhm...Shoot, too late to do anything to him, now...))

"And I'm used to this body. Sure, walking's not as easy, but I worked hard to march like this, so walking's fine," he continued. He took a few steps forward before turning and beckoning. "Come on, you shouldn't keep your trumpet out so long!" he called. Hearing his own words, he crouched and put his own away (he had the case with him still).

I looked to the others and shrugged. "Never a dull moment," Hunter said, and we walked back to town with Charlie.

"What are you doing here, by the way?" I asked. "I've never heard of...uh..."

"Evertown?" Charlie supplied.

"Yeah, Evertown. Is that even in Sinnoh?"

Charlie nodded his head. "Yeah, it's barely big enough to have a high school of any merit," he said. His eyes suddenly ignited as he held up a fist determinedly. "We're going to DOMINATE the competition, though, this year at state!"

At this, all three of us widened our eyes and froze our upper bodies. """Uuuuuhm...""" He looked at us with a curious look on his face, making a puzzled charizard "Groo?".

I whispered to my teammates, "Should we tell him that we're going to be there to cheer Rosedale to what ends up being victory?"

"RUUH?!"

"Should you learn to keep your whispers to a dull roar?" asked Meyers, sweatdropping.

"What're you guys talking about?" Charlie asked, looking at us with narrowed eyeridges. "You...You letting a school CHEAT?"

We sweatdropped and shook our heads. "Nononono! Not cheat! We just cheer them on to bring out their full potential, that's all!" I assured him.

Charlie grumped and crossed his arms. "Well, alright," he said.

"And, uhm..." I was a bit quiet before I finally said, "Because of the level of technology we've got, we were able to jump ahead through time to help the Rosedale Marching Rhydons win state. I'm sorry, but..."

Charlie frowned at us. "That sounds like cheating, but..." He shook his head. "From what I hear, Rosedale needs a victory. Can't do anything about it now, anyway," he added, shrugging.

"Yeah, sorry," Meyers said, all three of us putting our hands behind our heads.

Charlie shook a paw again. "Aw, don't worry," he said. He grinned, showing his full set of sharp, pearly whites. "We're still gonna win state."

"Huh?" I went.

"Rosedale's on the other side of the mountain! There's two different state marching championships in Sinnoh: East Sea and West Sea. We're on opposite sides. You just helped them win the West Sea competition, so we're still good!" He let out a great laugh as we anime fell.

"Great, so we just went all sorry for nothing," grumbled I, getting up again and brushing my suit off.

"Anyway, I'm here on a band trip," Charlie said. "We're rapidly approaching the school year, and first marching comp's just around the corner. We came here to go to an unofficial invite where people get to see where everyone's at. Although..." He looked around him. We were currently entering the city. Ruined buildings stood all around, and people made walking around hard. "...I guess we can't do nothin'."

"AGENTS!!"

We looked around to see Ash waving at us from the miraculously unharmed Pokémon Center. "I KNEW it!" I laughed, and we made our way over there.

"I guess the mission's complete, huh?" Ash asked as we approached.

We nodded. "You bet, kid!" Meyers said.

Someone yelped and we turned to see Charlie grabbing his tail up to him while looking at a woman (the seat of whose pants was blackened) with bowed head. "Sorry, sorry, I'm clumsy, sorry," he was saying.

Ash raised his eyebrows. "Woah, you can talk?" he asked Charlie.

Charlie grunted and looked over before making a surprised, "REH!" He sighed and shook his head. "You know, I think I'm just gonna stop trying. It's obvious I'm not a normal charizard, anyway, with the jacket and trumpet..."

We went into the Center and filled Ash in on the details, sitting in the lobby. Many trainers were there, too, talking excitedly about the day's adventures. Ash told us that nobody was killed, and the hospitol, also unharmed, was seeing to a variety of injury levels, with very few life-threatening ones. Those were taken care of, however; they were almost all trampling wounds, too.

"Wow," Ash went after our story. "That's a lot." ((Yeah, 22 pages; I'd better wrap this up fast...))

Charlie chuckled. "Yeah, but it was fun," he said. He was sitting on the floor with his tail's tip resting on his gut.

"Hey, Ash, didn't you pick up Lock's trumpet case?" Dawn asked.

Ash raised his eyebrows. "Oh! Yeah, I did, thanks for reminding me," he said.

"I'll get it," Brock said, getting up and walking off to their packs.

Charlie raised his eyeridges and gasped shortly. "Ash?" he repeated. "You mean Ash Ketchum?"

Ash looked at him in surprise. "Uh, yeah, heard of me?" he asked.

Charlie gaped. "HEARD of you? I've met your charizard!!" he said.

We all turned to him intently. "I thought you said you were human!" I said.

"Yeah, but I ran away and spent some time in the Charicific Valley soon after I transformed," he explained. "There, Ash, your charizard helped me out a lot. We became good friends, and I'm still a bit sad that I can't see him again for a while," he told him, smiling warmly. "He has a great deal of respect for you. You must be a great trainer."

Ash blushed and put his hand behind his neck. "Well..."

"Here you go, Lock!"

I looked up and saw a trumpet case being offered to me by Brock. I thanked him and finally put my instrument away--cleaning it first, of course -coughunlikesomebandmemberscough-.

Charlie put a claw to his chin and looked up. "Now that I think about it," he muttered, "seeing you Agents reminds me of a story he told me. He said that, one day, he defended the entire valley from poachers with the help of a cheer squad's routine and music. You know, the kind at schools. There was one in a black gakuran while the other two, who came later than he did, were in blue ones of different styles." He looked at us. "Friends of yours?"

We looked at each other in puzzlement. "Well, they sound like members of the Ouendan, who are sort of like our Eastern counterparts," Meyers said. "Why they'd be here is beyond me..."

Charlie shrugged. "Well, just wanted to say that," he said.

Suddenly, we all heard a perfect impression:

""Chaaaaarrrrliiieeeeee...""

Me and my friends let out a splutter of laughter as Charlie, half-eyeing and smirking, raised his head to look around for a moment before laughing quietly. "Oh, my..." He looked away before sighed and, setting his face to a grumpy one as his name was called again, "Yeah, yeah, what is it?" in a perfect imitation, as well.

A pair of humans came over. One was a guy with a benie and shaggy black hair, and the other was a girl with a black scarf around her neck. "Where were you, Chaarrliiiee?" asked the boy, staying in character.

"Did you see the monsteerr, Chaarrrliieee?" asked the girl, doing the same.

"Yeah, I got a front row seat," Charlie replied, keeping the theme here.

"Wow, really?" asked the boy, normal-voiced. He sounded a bit higher in voice than Charlie.

"What do you mean?" asked the girl, voice normal as well. She had a voice that could be very effective in commanding.

"I'll tell you later," Charlie answered, speaking normally again, too. "Lemme guess: I'm going back in my ball?" He chuckled as he spoke, so we knew he was joking.

"Yeah, we're collecting you. C'mon, lardgut," beckoned the boy.

Charlie nodded. "Coming," he said, then turned to the rest of us. "Well, been fun," he told us, standing up and grabbing his trumpet. "Nice to meet you all! I'd love to stick around, but I've got to go. Maybe we'll see each other again someday."

"Yeah," Ash said, standing up and shaking his paw. We stood and did the same.

"Pleasure--and quite an experience--working with you," I said.

"Same here," he returned. "Well, toodles!" he said before turning. "Ready."

"Then..." the girl said. Her and the boy turned and pointed while Charlie stepped around the couch to be behind them. "Action Force!"

"""AWAAAAAAYYY!!""" they cried, charging out while pointing, like a bunch of kids acting like superheroes. They were laughing after they exited the Center.

We all sweatdropped at this. "Well, at least we know for sure he's a trumpet," Meyers said. "And that those are his trumpet friends." He looked at me.

I looked back. "Come on, you're just jealous that we're more fun than 'bones," I joked.

"Well, we--erm, have something I shouldn't say in the presence of children," Meyers quickly stopped himself, and we all laughed.

"Oh!" Ash suddenly remembered something. "I almost forgot!" He grinned his mischievous Ash grin. "You guys wanna know what I just found out about?" he asked.

"Sure," I said. Meyers and Hunter nodded.

Ash held a fist up. "They're gonna be hosting a huge tournament in the city of Wharfton a couple days' walk from here!!" he answered excitedly. "It's like the Wallace Cup for trainers, the poster I saw said. They've got a badge there that you can use to make your way to the Pokémon League!"

We raised our eyebrows sharply at this. "Woah! We're finally going to get to see some REAL battling?" I asked, leaning forwards with anticipation.

Ash smirked and nodded. "As you guys might say, you bet, kid!" he replied, winking at our little phrase.

We laughed a bit. "No, you've got to do it like this," Hunter said, and the screen faded out to the sunset above the city.

- - - - -

Kahn leaned back in his chair. "Hmmmm..." He looked up at the screens, each with a different filter showing on them. One showed something surrounding Lock. "Disturbing, indeed..." He picked up the phone and pressed a speed dial on it. "Konnichiwa? Doumeki-sama? Yeah, it's me. Listen, I think you should know about this...Huh? No, I know we told you about that. I'm calling to tell you about something else." He leaned forwards. "You watch the episode? ...No time? Right. Well, guess what. It's getting stronger. The only way to stop it this time was favorite music. What's going to happen if it keeps going?..." He paused a moment before raising his eyebrows. "Yow. Quite a theory. One I hope doesn't happen. It's worse than my theory; all I thought would happen is he'd die."

- - - - -

Yow, indeed. Sorry for the chapter length! 25 pages! -sweatdrop- Yeah, went overboard again. And I think this is turning out to be more than the bonus mission I'd originally thought it would be. Yeah. Sorry. Shutting up now.


	26. X: : : To Sinnoh : : :X

_____

(26)_*_*_( ) (On) (Their) (Way)

-*Is reminded of the Travelocity gnome: "I'm on my waaay!"*-

Kioshi, Dragonair, Suzu, Teddiursa, Hibiki, and Croconaw took in a breath of air as they walked into the city. They let it out with a sigh, Croconaw especially. "Aaaaaaah..." he went.

"You got it, Croconaw," Hibiki said, grinning. "Smell that ocean air!"

The Ouendan and their pokémon friends had, at last, made it to Vermillion City.

They went south, according to Hibiki's directions, towards the port. "But where in Sinnoh should we head to?" asked Suzu.

"Where the Agents have last been seen," Kioshi answered. He felt a nudge at his palm, like a cat's, and smilingly petted Dragonair's head. "We're going out to sea, Dragonair," he told her. "You ready?"

Dragonair nodded, smiling. 'As long as I'm with you!' she thought. Her friends sensed what she was thinking and sweatdropped.

"Where'll we get any information on them, though?" asked Suzu. "I mean, sure, we've heard stuff, but they're not ALL that well-known..."

"Wonder if we'll run into anyone who knows where they are," muttered Hibiki, putting a hand to his chin.

The sun shone brightly in the sky that morning, and it made the ocean glisten beautifully when they saw their first glimpse of it. Croconaw cheered and pumped his arm in the air as he saw the wet stuff, and Hibiki laughed. "Hey, you know Surf? Maybe we could save some cash and ride on you and Dragonair!" he joked. Croconaw sweatdropped and shook his head, making him laugh some more.

"Sorry, Hibiki--maybe if you lost a few pounds, first," he told him in his language.

They decided to stop by a Pokémon Center to rest their pokémon (they had to battle soon after entering the city, thanks to, for once, Croconaw being loose. They recognized Dragonair as being "owned" thanks to her ball cap.). Once they gave their friends to Nurse Joy, the Ouendan flopped into a couch and rested.

"Where're we going to find anyone who knows where they are?" Suzu asked. "We can't just ask random people if they know where to find a bunch of guys in black suits who sing and dance to help people out. They'll think we're crazy."

"That IS a problem," Kioshi agreed. "We'll just have to bank on our luck. If need be, we might have to stick around here for a little while before we get a lead."

"But then it'll be stale, probably," Hibiki said. He sighed. "Oh, if only we could find SOMEone who knew something about those Elite Greet Agents!"

"You mean Elite BEAT Agents?" asked a voice behind the couch.

"Yeah, that, thanks," Hibiki said, turning to look. When he saw who it was, he raised his eyebrows. "Y-YOU!"

Tag smiled and waved. "Yeah, me," he chuckled wryly as the others turned to look at him. He looked at Kioshi and Suzu as well, and he bowed deeply. "I'm really sorry about a few days ago," he apologized. "I've learned to become a real trainer since then, honest."

'You'd better,' Kioshi couldn't help but think. 'We didn't stay in that city an extra day for nothing.' He smiled and nodded. "That's good, but I think Dragonair's the one you should be apologizing to," he said. "She was really ticked."

At this, Tag paled. "Erm...Your Dragonair?" he asked nervously. "Erm...Ah...T-Tell it that--"

"Her."

"Her, tell her that I'm s-sorry I did that..." He shuddered. "I'm sorry, but she REALLY freaked me out," he confessed. "I'm...kind of afraid of her."

"Understandable," Kioshi sympathized, remembering the force of the fire around her that day.

"Where'd you hear of the Elite Beat Agents?" Suzu asked.

"Oh, these guys and a talking zangoose--which was with a seviper and not tearing its eyes out, strangely--told me," Tag said, thumbing behind him. "They're looking for them."

The Ouendan raised their eyebrows and looked at each other. They smiled and looked back, standing up. "Could you show us to them?" asked Kioshi.

Tag nodded, smiling. "Sure! But...they might have moved..." He looked around the Center. "I know, maybe my brothers or Kagome saw them. C'mon!" He beckoned, and they went over to where his family was.

Kagome, Yer, and It looked up when Tag came back. The brothers widened their eyes as they saw the Ouendan. ""YOU guys?"" they asked in surprise. The instantly stood and bowed to them. ""We're sorry for--""

"Relax, we forgive you," Kioshi told them, raising a hand and giving a sweatdropping smile. He lowered it again and turned to Kagome. "Is everything going alright?" he asked. "You're on a journey again, now, right?"

Kagome smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thanks to you," she said.

Nurse Joy was coming over with the pokémon when the Ouendan shook their heads in unison. "No, thanks to YOU," Kioshi corrected her.

"You did all the work," Suzu said.

"We just cheered you on," Hibiki explained.

Dragonair perked her ears up (if those wing things are ears) at this. 'They...don't take any credit? Wow...That's very humble.'

Tag heard footsteps and turned around to instantly pale and hide behind a caught-off-guard Kagome. "DON'TKILLMEMISSDRAGONAIRPLEASE!!" he begged.

Dragonair blinked at this and tilted her head, then raised her eyeridges. "Goh!" She giggled and shook her head. "You're not hurting Kioshi, so I'm not going to kill you," she explained in her language. Then she narrowed her eyes breifly, saying, "But if you DO..."

"Down, Dragonair," Kioshi chuckled, patting her head. "Don't wanna make the kid wet his pants."

"HEY!" Tag retorted, jumping out from behind his human shield with a fist up. Everyone laughed at this.

"So, what're you guys going to do?" asked Suzu.

Kagome nodded and looked at her boys. "Well, we're heading around Kanto and earning badges like normal," she said. "I'm retraining to work my way towards the Indigo League once more. Though..." She frowned at them. "I can tell your enthusiasm is flagging again," she admitted.

They all "!!"'d and sweatdropped. """Uuuuuhh...Whatever do you mean, Kagome?""" they asked nervously in unison, grinning falsely.

Kagome put her hands at her hips as she looked at them. "Don't bother lying," she said sternly. "I can tell that you're starting to get bored again. I thought we were finished with this nonsense that night!" She looked a bit hurt during this sentance.

The brothers looked at each other, squirmed their facial features for a bit uncertainly, and sighed. "Well, it's just that we feel a little...bored just sitting back and commanding," Yer defended gently, holding up a hand. "Tag's having the worst of it of us. We all like to do physical things, but..." He trailed off.

"But we camp all the time, not to mention the amount of time we spend hiking around," pointed out Kagome, crossing and arm and holding up the other. "And it's not as if you can fight pokémon yourself. I've never even heard of anything like that."

"But it would be so fun!" It said, smiling excitedly and shaking his fists. "And, besides, think of how much we'd be bonding with our pokémon if we fight alongside them, not just with them."

Teddiursa tilted his head at this. "Ted?"

Suzu turned to him and gave him an eyebrow-raised smirk, resting her wrist on her hip. "What, you've never had more respect for someone who shares your pain than someone who's safe and sound?" she asked. "Like, you don't mind if Kioshi never fought together with you?"

Teddiursa bowed his head and crossed his arms, closing his eyes in thought. "Mmmmm...Ted," he nodded after a moment.

"Speaking of people getting in there and doing things," Kioshi said, holding a finger up. "Kagome? Did you see some guys with a zangoose and seviper around here?"

Kagome raised her eyebrows at the question. "Oh! Uhm...Yeah, but I don't know where they are," she said. She turned to her boys. "Takishi? Yusuke? Itachi? Any of you see them?" she asked. (This prompted the Ouendan to recall that the boys' nicknames were based off their names; each nickname started with the same letter as their normal name.)

Takishi shook his head. "I brought these guys to ask you guys," he said, shrugging.

Yusuke and Itachi looked at each other, puzzled. "You saw them, too, right?" asked Yusuke.

"Yeah, but why would you guys wanna see them?" Itachi asked the Ouendan, raising an eyebrow. "You wanna stare at how obese that zangoose is?"

Hibiki shook his head with his friends. "No," he answered, "we want to talk with them."

"Okay..." Yusuke shrugged. "I remember seeing them at a table by the window in the cafeteria. You'll know when you see them. Fat zangoose, seviper wrapped around him, and there's this guy with more hair on his head than on your teddiursa's evolved form's entire body," he described, smiling wryly.

Kioshi and the others smiled and bowed a bit. "Thank you very much," he said. "Well, I hope you guys figure everything out soon. Good-bye!" He moved off, waving behind him, and the others followed. The boys and Kagome smiled and waved back, saying their farewells, as well.

"Is it just me, or did that guy he described fit few people we've seen here?" Suzu asked as they made their way to the cafeteria.

"It's not just you," Hibiki told her. "I wonder who it could be, though..."

They entered the eating place and looked around. It wasn't long before they found them. Indeed, they were sitting at a window seat. When they saw who they were, however, they widened their eyes in surprise.

"Hey! Fancy seeing you guys here!" Kioshi greeted, smiling, as he came over.

The group turned to him and raised their eyebrows at them. "Oh! You're those ouendan we ran into outside Cerulean before, aren't you?" asked the one with the wild hair. They nodded back, and he smiled and nodded. "I thought so." He remembered something and gasped shortly. "Hey, you guys ever find the Elite Beat Agents?" he asked a bit passionately.

The Ouendan shook their heads sadly. "We were going to ask you if you knew where they were," Suzu said.

The guy let out a quiet whine, like what a dog might make, and drooped his head in disappointment. "Awww...Oh, well. Oh..." He blushed and grinned sheepishly at them, rubbing his neck. "I shouldn't've asked a question that way to near-total strangers," he said. "Travis," he introduced, bowing slightly from his seat. "These are my friends, Frank and Dorian." He jerked his head to the other two humans, who sweatdropped and bowed shortly like he did. "We're going back to Sinnoh, where our pokémon journey is currently taking place, and we're going to try and find those Agents."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kioshi said, him and the others bowing. "I'm Kioshi, and these are Suzu and Hibiki, my friends and backups. We're heading to Sinnoh, as well, with the same goal as you."

"Forgetting someone, Travis?" asked a gruff voice.

"Oh!" Travis sweatdropped and turned to his side, where sat a zangoose with a seviper wrapped around his plump middle. Next to him sat (a bit akwardly on the seat) a mightyena. The formers were eating normal food, but the latter was content with pokémon food. The zangoose had his eyes closed while he munched on a mouthful from the leg of poultry he held. Travis put a hand behind his neck again. "Sorry, I was getting to you guys," he told them.

The pokémon gulped down his food. "Yeah, that's alright," he said. He smirked and opened an eye to look at the Ouendan. "It's always a pleasure to see people you never thought you'd run into again."

The Ouendan and Teddiursa raised their eyebrows while the other two raised their eyeridges at the talking pokémon. "You CAN talk!" Hibiki said in awe. "Takishi wasn't joking!"

"Yeah, that's our friend, Zante," Travis introduced, turning back to them. "His, believe it or not, girlfriend, Vesp, is the one using him as a body pillow. And one of my best friends, Yena, is right over there." He pointed with a grin to Yena, who gave a wolfish smile and nod to them.

"Wow! Are you that same poochyena I saw back then?" Dragonair asked him in her language, raising her body to look over at him.

Yena grinned and nodded. "Yeah, but I'm a lot better, now," he replied, using Japanese.

At this, Dragonair and the others started. "Can ALL of you talk?!" Suzu asked incredulously.

Zante let out a laugh. "Yeah, 'cept for Frank's and Dorian's pokémon," he answered. "I've got the biggest vocabulary, not to brag."

"It's all thanks to him, though," Vesp said, beaming at her boyfriend. "Otherwise, we'd still be speaking our native tounge all the time." She lovingly nudged his cheek, which he nudged back.

The Ouendan sweatdropped. "Er..." Kioshi went.

Suzu looked at Hibiki, eyebrows knit in confusion. "Mr. Gamer, how the heck's this possible? I remember I watched an episode that talked about how much they hated each other," she said a little helplessly.

Hibiki looked back with the same look. "Well, they both, ironically, fall under the same egg group," he explained. "It's actually perfectly logical...Well..." He looked back. "...Maybe not PERFECTLY..."

Zante and Vesp chuckled and shook their heads. "The only things in life that always go by any rules are physics," Zante said, "and even then there's some exceptions."

"So, why are you guys looking for them?" asked Kioshi. "The Agents, I mean."

Travis smiled and clenched a fist, looking at it. "I want to...I want to talk to them about something," he answered. "My friends are coming, too, which I thank them for," he added, grinning at his human friends.

"We're coming along because we wanna see how things turn out," explained Zante, pointing to himself and Vesp. "Yena's coming along because Travis is."

Yena frowned and looked at Zante. "I thought you were coming along to teach me human," he said a little woundedly.

Zante smirk-smiled (or whatever you call that expression where you sorta frown and smirk, like a ~ thing) and nodded, looking at him. "Yeah, that, too, sorry."

"What about you?" asked Frank, motioning to the Ouendan. "You wanna get their autographs or something?"

Kioshi shook his head. "No, unless one of them's a singer I admire," he replied. "We have to talk to them, as well."

Travis raised an eyebrow. "Huh."

"You guys happen to know where in Sinnoh they are?" asked Suzu.

The humans shook their heads sadly. "We've not a clue," Dorian answered. "I think Travis was wondering if you knew, with his question earlier." Travis nodded to confirm that.

The Ouendan raised their eyebrows, then Kioshi drooped down, hanging his arms. "Awwww...Just when I thought we'd finally had a lead," he moaned.

Travis smiled sympathetically. "Hey, I hear ya," he said. "We're pretty much in the same situation. The only things we know are that we last saw them in Sinnoh and that they were traveling with a bunch of kids." He frowned in thought. "Forgot their names, though."

Kioshi stood straight again and nodded. "That's alright," he said. "You guys know about any ships leaving to Sinnoh today?"

Dorian nodded. "Yeah, we're gonna get on the next--and last for a week--ship out," he said. "It's actually going to leave in..." He looked at his watch and squeaked. "...TEN MINUTES!!"

Everyone started and the humans sitting stood up. "TEN MINUTES?!" they all reapeated. The six by the table moved aside for the six at the table to get out. Zante mrfed and grabbed his leg in his mouth while he gathered his stuff along with everyone else, while Yena kneaded his paws like a cat while he waited for his companions to get out of the way.

"We've got to get our stuff, too," Hibiki said panickedly.

"Hurry and get it, then," Travis barked in command. "We'll wait for you outside the Center doors if we need to, but only for a minute. We'll lead you to the dock!"

"""Arigato!""" bowed the Ouendan before they grabbed their pokémon friends and dashed away to the lobby.

They ran back out again after a half a minute and saw the others. The twelve nodded before Travis beckoned, "Follow us!" and they were off. They dashed past people, pokémon, and open-air shops before finally, after five minutes' constant running (and slithering), they made it to the docks. They stopped and panted hard, damp with sweat and aching in the legs.

"We...made it," wheezed Frank.

"I think...I lost...about twenty...pounds," lamentede Zante.

"You do feel a little skinnier, love," Vesp noticed.

"Where's...the ship?" asked Suzu, looking around.

"There," breathed Dorian, pointing to a ship titled the S.S. Iris. "Come on...let's get...on board..."

After they caught their breath, they went and joined the crowd boarding the ship. When they got to the porter, however, they discovered half of them had no tickets!

"But we HAVE to get on!" protested Kioshi. 'We don't have TIME to wait another week!' "Can't we just pay up front?"

The porter shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no," he answered curtly. "You've got two minutes. Run and get yourselves tickets. The pokémon come on free, though." He pointed to a booth a ways away.

"I'll get them," Travis said, removing his bag and giving it to Frank. "You under 10?"

"Nope, not us," chuckled Hibiki.

"Okay," and he shot off without hearing a single thank-you. Time ticked by until, just when they were starting to take up the boarding ramp (or whatever it's called), he came dashing back with three tickets in his hand. "HERE!" He dashed by the Ouendan and tossed the tickets backwards to counter his momentum. They each caught one and showed them to the porter. Without another word, they all rocketed up to the ship.

Once onboard, they all slumped against the railing and breathed a sigh of relief. "FINALLY," Hibiki said weakly. "We're on our way to Sinnoh."

"It's a great place," said Travis, who was breathing heavilly, but not quite panting. "You'll love it."

After a second, they all stood up and went to their cabins. After dropping off their packs, they returned to the deck to watch the fading speck that was Vermillion City fade away.

"Wow," went Hibiki, and everyone looked at him. He leaned on the railing. "After all that trouble we went through to find that city, we only stay there for little more than an hour. How ironic."

"C'est la vie, as the French would say," Zante said, smiling a bit. He returned his attention to the waves, grinning. "This is so exciting!" he exclaimed. "I've never been on a boat in my entire life!"

"This'll be a fun experience for all of us," assured Hibiki.

"That is, unless we have to get called to yet another cheer," Suzu half-joked, half-eyeing at the prospect.

"Great, now you jinxed it," Kioshi chuckled.

"Cheer?" The Ouendan turned to look at Travis as he looked back curiously. "Do you mean like the Agents, sorta?" They nodded, and he gasped. "I KNEW it!" He banged his fist into his palm. "You guys are those Ouendan my parents mentioned!"

The Ouendan blushed a bit. "We're famous?" Kioshi asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, my parents know stuff that happens that others might not," Travis answered, smiling a little fakely, as if he was hiding something. He looked interested again and asked, "So, you guys are like the Agents, but you're different?"

The Ouendan and their pokémon friends nodded. "We're Ouendan," Kioshi said. "When we sense good people in desperate need, we rush to cheer them on."

Travis smiled excitedly. "Just like the Agents!" he said. He nodded and clenched his fists. "I want to confess something: Me, Frank, and Dorian are ameture Agents."

This certainly surprised the cheer squad, making them widen their eyes and raise their eyebrows. "Really??" asked Kioshi. "How can you be ameture Agents when you've only met them for one night?"

"Determination and helluva talent," answered Zante proudly, turning around and leaning on the railing. "I was summoned by Yena and Coaty, Travis's family's pet swellow, to help them out. You wouldn't believe what happened when I did," he laughed, shaking his head.

"What'd you do?" asked Hibiki. "To help, I mean?"

"I basically taught them to get in the groove together after chilling out," Zante answered. "Then they started into a song after getting the groove, one I doubt will ever be heard again." [Not unless I get off my sorry ass and play around with Buzz Machines, at least...] Zante held a paw up and scritched Vesp under the chin gently, smiling. She let out a little sort of purr. "I realize now that I was their 'target' for their unintentional cheer," he continued. "I didn't need anything, but this amazingly huge amount of energy flowed into me, regardless."

Kioshi and the Ouendan "!"ed at this, looking at each other in alarm. "It's not safe to be a needless target without knowing what to do with the energy you'll be receiving!" Suzu told him worriedly. "If you're just standing there without doing much of anything, they there's the danger of the energy overloading your body and spirit."

"Would that explain why he became a Fatzillangoose?" joked Frank.

Suzu raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Yes, but I suppose it faded out...?"

Zante nodded. "I wouldn't be able to fit on this ship otherwise," he said. He sighed at the memory. "It DID feel awful nice...Oh, my TAIL...I wish I could find a way to make it that soft again!"

The Ouendan sweatdropped, unsure which body part he was referring to with "tail". "What was the song about?" asked Kioshi.

"It was about letting loose," Dorian answered. "Not the calming down kind of letting loose, but the releasing your inhibitions and rocking out kind of letting loose."

"And when did it start affecting you, Zante?" Kioshi asked.

"After the first few seconds," he answered. "I became more wild-looking--my claws lengthened to a size that would make any zangoose envious, my fur shaggied up, and my eyes felt weird. I also couldn't help sounding a bit more feral," he described. "All I was doing was standing there, conducting along with them. I didn't completely transform until after they were finished."

"How?" asked Suzu, tilting her head and crossing her arms.

"Well, I just kept it all in," answered the pokémon simply, shrugging. "It's not that hard for us pokémon. It was a bit difficult to handle, but I could keep it in until the end. I knew that I had to let it out somehow, or something bad might've happened. I mean, it was like I was feeling adrenaline all the time, which wasn't all that fun for me."

"I see," Suzu said, nodding. "It was wise to let it out right away."

"Did you...erm..." Kioshi searched for a wording. "...become more well-lived as you grew?" He blushed anyway.

Zante gave a belly laugh. "I could've made a snorlax turn lime with envy!!" he answered a little boastingly.

"Hun, I think that's enough weirding people out," warned Vesp.

"We're boy- and girlfriend; we're weirding people out whenever they see us," Zante pointed out slyly.

Vesp sighed and shook her head, making the "what can you do" face and saying, "I tried."

"It's because of the song," explained Kioshi, bringing the pokémon's attention back to him. "It described letting loose, so, well, you let loose."

Zante thought for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Yeah, that does make sense," he said. He smiled and nodded. "Thank you. How that all happened's been bugging me," he told them.

The Ouendan nodded. "As an American comic book artist taught the world," Kioshi said, arms crossed and face serious, "'With great power comes great responsibility.'" He looked at Travis, Frank, and Dorian. "Do you understand?" he asked.

The ameture Agents nodded, serious looks on their faces. "We only help those who really need it," Travis replied. "We're not to cheer on people who just WANT to do something, but NEED to or really deserve to. We cheer only those who will USE the energy we give them, as well," he finished.

Kioshi nodded. "Correct," he said. "I don't know the specific rules Agents must follow, but those rules are what all cheerers follow."

Travis looked at his friends and nodded with them. "Hey, how long will this ride last?" he asked Dorian.

"About a day and a half," he answered. He smiled wryly and added, "We should be careful, seeing as there are many trainers on this boat who're gonna be itching for action in a couple hours."

Kioshi let out a cry of dismay. "Uwwaaaahh!" He put his hands to his head, face screwed up into one of horror. "Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water!!" His comrades laughed at this, and the others did when, after Dragonair told Zante who relayed it to them, they learned about how often they were challenged and how Kioshi's the only one who can really battle.

Regardless, they all split up for the time being. Kioshi was surprised when he wasn't followed by Dragonair, who hung back to talk with Zante, as he himself went to talk with Travis. Croconaw went with Hibiki, who went with Suzu to talk with Frank and Dorian. Yena decided to stay with Zante. So, while the Ouendan made friends with the wannabe Agents, most of the wild (technically) pokémon stayed alone.

"Say, Zante?" Dragonair asked.

Zante chuckled after nuzzling his girlfriend. "Yes?"

"How did you teach Vesp and Yena to talk?" Teddiursa queried, staying there with Dragonair for the same reason she did.

Zante grinned. "New students, then?" he asked. "After I learned how to talk and taught Vesp how to, I decided to become what I call a Pokémon Linguist. I teach other pokémon how to speak Human. Would you like to get a sample lesson?" he offered, smiling kindly.

Dragonair gasped and smiled, then nodded vigorously, replying, "Yes, please!"

Teddiursa smiled and nodded with less energy. "It sounds really interesting," he said.

"Alright, then, but I DID promise Yena that we'd continue once we boarded the boat," Zante told them, gesturing to a sitting mightyena. "You'll have to wait until tonight, or you can just sit in and listen, try to get the basic idea."

"I've got nothing better to do," Dragonair said, shrugging her body a bit. "It sounds like Kioshi went off to talk with Travis. Boring, if you ask me."

"Again, it sounds really interesting," Teddiursa repeated. "It'd be nice if I had a snack, though..."

"Sure! I've got quite a few berries in my pack," the zangoose offered.

Teddiursa gasped and clasped his paws together, eyes starry. "Really?!" he asked breathlessly.

Later, Dragonair was curled up a little, Teddiursa (happily munching a large pecha berry) using her as a chair, while she watched. Zante and Yena were situated by the railing, both sitting. Vesp had decided to release her boyfriend and joined her fellow serpentine pokémon.

Zante nodded. "Good! Now, let's get onto a few new words," he said. (They had been in the lesson for a while already, you see.) "Now, you know how to count to twenty, right?"

Yena nodded. "Yeah." He used his language.

"Well, I want to start you on 21 through to 100," Zante said, smiling. "You ready?...Okay, say '21' for me." (I'm using the number itself because of the dual languages being expressed in the episode they were in.)

Yena slowly repeated, "21...?"

"Good. 22?"

"2...2?"

"23...24...and 25."

"Uh..." Yena closed his eyes and slowly repeated the numbers.

"You're doing great!" Zante praised, eyes-closed smiling. "Now, try guessing 26 through 29 for me."

"This looks a little hard," commented Dragonair quietly.

Vesp nodded. "It is at first," she replied. "But the hard part is moving your tounge to make the new sounds. After about a month of it, you'll have mastered most of the sounds used in Human." She chuckled a little and said, "My hun says that humans find it difficult to master foreign languages, since they need to learn both what each word means and how to say them. We've got it easy, seeing as we naturally know what humans are saying from the base meaning we can percieve."

"You mean how we don't know what each word truly MEANS, but we know what they're trying to tell us?" Teddiursa checked.

"Yes," Vesp confirmed, nodding. "Though, don't tell them about that, of course," she added, winking to the small bear.

Teddiursa nodded. "Right! Everyone knows that! It's been a little game we've played for eons: See if they ever figure it out," he said. "Some of them have the right idea already!"

Dragonair suddenly felt something. 'This...isn't like someone's in danger,' she thought, narrowing her eyeridges in caution, ready for action. 'It's like...like when I was in the middle of the battle with Tag's masquerain!' She looked around and saw, indeed, a person was coming over, looking right at them.

It was a short-haired blonde young man with a wily expression. He wore a white tanktop with a red collar and sleeveholes, a pair of tough camo cargoes, and black work boots. On his back via a strap over his right shoulder was a broadsword. His sea green eyes looked straight at Dragonair's. His grin increased.

Vesp had turned to see, too, and was raising an eyeridge. "What's with him?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I don't like the way he's looking at me," Dragonair replied darkly. She tried to glare at him, but it didn't intimidate him in the least.

He finally came within 10 feet of the pokémon and stopped. He stood there, one hand holding the strap of his sword, the other on his hip as he studied Zante and Yena. The two continued to have class.

A half minute later, though, Yena couldn't take it much longer. He'd been sensing the hostility in the young man and was a bit uneasy. "Uuuhm...Zante, I can't go on," he said quietly, eyeing the human.

Zante rolled his eyes over to him as well and nodded. "Then we'll continue tomorrow," he whispered. He then stood up, turning to the human. "What're YOU lookin' at?" he asked, raising his voice and crossing his arms.

The young man made a single "HEH!" before reaching to his belt and maximizing a ball. "An interesting challenge," he replied before tossing the ball. It opened up and revealed a metang, floating above the ship with a ready look on its face.

"There's no trainer here!" protested Vesp, who slithered over to her boyfriend for protection (both to and to be protected). "You can't start a battle like that!"

Zante sighed and shook his head. "No, he's legal," he corrected. "We're all still wild pokémon, technically." He looked up, frowning to one side. "He could catch us and that'd be the end of it."

Dragonair growled and shook her head. "No! There's no way I'm going to be taken from Kioshi!" she vowed.

The trainer, though, laughed. "You think I'm here to catch you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Heck, no! I SAID I was looking at a challenge, didn't I?" He crossed his arms. "Metang, freeform," he commanded off-handedly. Metang went forth.

"I'll handle this!" Zante said, unsheathing his claws and standing forth. "It's a steel-type!" He reeled back and let fly a Focus Punch on the magnetic pokémon. It hit, but it didn't do much except make his fist hurt.

"And psychic," added Dragonair, half-eyeing him.

Yena jumped over in front of the group. "Then I've got this!" he growled.

The trainer shook his head. "Where's your honor? Switching already?" he asked disappointedly.

"He's right," Zante said, stepping forwards. "Alright, issue your commands like a good trainer," he said.

The trainer chuckled. "I already did," he said.

Metang came flying forth, charging up a Thunderpunch.

Zante cursed and dodged it with surprising nimbleness before he turned around and jumped onto it. The Metang made a sound of surprise and discomfort as it fought to stay afloat underneath the great weight. It failed, though, and slammed to the deck. This gave Zante the chance to grip it well. "You wanna fly?" he asked, then, after setting a foot on the deck, he leaped into the air, spinning around. "Then here ya go!!" He fell for a moment before throwing Metang down again.

As soon as he threw, though, Metang flipped in midair and hammered the surprised zangoose with a Mach Punch. Zante yelled as he slammed down to the boards, making a small dent into the deck when he landed. Metang flew back down nearby him, waiting for him to rise.

"ZANTE!" Vesp cried, coming over.

Zante grunted in pain. "Ugh...Fighting-type move...stupid..." he growled in his own language. He slowly rose up to his feet, panting and holding his chest, where he'd been hit. "I think I almost broke a rib," he grunted in Human. He let out a chuckle despite himself. "Playing a little rough, are we?" he asked.

"Of course," the trainer went. "It's how we go. Alright, Metang, finish it off with--"

"STOP!"

Everyone turned to see another human male. This was an adult, and he, too, wore a weapon on his body: a pair of leather gauntlets with metal in the places where the fingers would hit something in a punch were hung at his waist. He was fairly scrawny, but he gave off the feeling that he was much stronger than he looked. He wore white parachute pants--or whatever those billowy pantaloon-like things you see in Alladin are--a pair of red sandals, and a sleeveless gold and white button-up. (The lapels were gold, as was part of the chest pocket.) He had a frowning face, a short, boxy beard, a white bandanna over his head, and ice blue eyes. His arms were crossed. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked in appal.

The trainer chuckled. "Having a battle," he answered. "Come on. A big, talking zangoose and these others?...Well, alright, not the Teddiursa, but the others look like too much to ig--"

Metang was suddenly sent flying right into the trainer, knocking both to the ground and the first out. When the trainer shoved the steel-type off of him, he saw Teddiursa standing there, anger-veining and panting while fire faded from his little fist, still outstretched from the Fire Punch he'd let fly.

The other trainer humphed and smirked. "Never underestimate," he said. He stepped over to stand in front of the pokémon. "Little one, come back. This guy's fight's with me, now," he said firmly.

Teddiursa raised his eyebrows, but did as he was told.

"What's going on?" Travis came running down the deck, followed closly by Kioshi. Zante held up a paw to stop them, and they did. "I heard a battle was taking place over here," Travis said, face serious. "Again, what's going on?"

"A battle," the man replied, taking a pokéball from his belt and maximizing it. "One on one, then whatever's left," he conditioned.

"Agreed, whatever," the other trainer went, returning Metang and pulling out his other pokéball. "Let's see you handle this guy!" he taunted, tossing it out. "Get 'im, Medicham!"

"Set! Mankey!" the man called, throwing his out.

The pokéballs opened and released their contents before returning to their owners. The two fighters then looked at each other, ready for commands.

"Medicham, Psych Up!"

"Mankey, Rollout!"

"Rollout?" Kioshi looked behind him and saw, to his surprise, Takishi.

"Takishi? I thought you guys were going around Kanto," Kioshi asked.

Takishi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, hey," he greeted. He grinned. "We convinced Kagome that we wanted to see new lands. But this looks way more interesting..." He stepped around the two cheerers to stand and watch.

By now, the trainer had beaten Mankey back pretty hard. The man watched his pokémon as it slid back from a Psychic. "Mankey," the man said, getting its attention. "Pull back."

"Huh?!" The trainer grit his teeth and glared. "What, you savin' him for later? Coward."

The man stepped forth, getting on his gauntlets. "No," he said, "I just don't want him to faint. Besides, I think that's enough fooling around." He finished and pounded his fists together.

The trainer frowned. "Well, whatever. Medicham, Confusion!"

At this, everyone not involved in the battle right then made sounds of shock. "WHAT?!" Zante cried. "You can't do that! It's against the rules to attack a trainer with a pokémon or vice versa!"

The man, however, dashed aside, dodging the attack, and slid over to the dual-type pokémon. With a shout, he let fly a fierce uppercut. It knocked the poor thing out in one blow.

"Dangit!" the trainer shouted, returning his pokémon. "Alright, you asked for it," he growled, drawing his sword. He held it in both hands in front of him. "I think it's time to poke a few holes in those sails you're wearing."

"I think it's time to beat some manners into you," the man returned curtly. Then, causing Takishi to gasp, they charged forth to fight, mano e mano (or however you're supposed to spell that).

The trainer's sword clashed against the man's fists' metal plates. Then, the trainer quickly let fly a kick. He hit (though the man obviously had tensed for the blow) and slashed widely. Travis yipped and hid his face from the expected fan of blood--but it never came.

It was like splashing through water. The sword cut across the man's arm, drawing blood and a trail of a gash. However, as it went, the blood never came out very far at all and the wound healed up perfectly as quickly as it had come.

The man grunted in pain and held his arm afterwards, though. "Sharp sword," he complimented.

"Heh," the trainer went, patting the blade and holding it up. "Pretty heavy, too. This baby could fell a giant," he boasted before being given an unmistakable Thunderpunch by the man.

As the trainer fell, crackling with electricity and eyes spirally, the man cracked his knuckles on his right hand. The gauntlet was still alive with straws of electricity. "And a giant can fell a cocky jerk who forgot the first rule of fighting," the man fought back. "Keep your eyes on the birdie."

The trainer groaned and struggled up, eyes clenched from pain as he looked to the man. Opening one eye and wincing, he swore at him. "I...should've known...I thought...you looked familiar..." he muttered.

"Slasher Gym Leader Guillaume," the man introduced, removing his gauntlets. (gee-YAHM. It's French.) "If you're a Slasher, then, yes, you SHOULD have known." He grabbed him by the lapels and brought him up. "Get your sorry butt back to your cabin and don't pull anything else like that again on this ship, or you'd better hope you've got a pokémon with Surf." He let him go, and he stood.

The trainer growled, but he nodded. He weakly hobbled back down the ship.

Everyone stood and gaped at him. Guillaume turned around with an expression of concern as he looked at the pokémon. "Are you all alright?" he asked in a gentler tone.

They all nodded, amazed at this man. "What...What the heck just happened?" asked Vesp.

"Stole my line," Zante joked mirthlessly for his surprise.

"What I wanna know is what the heck you ARE," Takishi said, walking over to them.

Guillaume looked over at him and smiled. "I and that rude young man back there are what are called Pokémon Slashers," he explained. "We're trainers who specialize in fighting with our pokémon and training them to fight on their own. That's what went on when he told his Metang to 'Free-form' when he fought you, zangoose," he clarified, looking at Zante.

Zante raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I had a feeling that's what was going on," he muttered.

"We're allowed to carry weapons as long as any blades have been covered in a very hi-tech spray that heals wounds as soon as they are inflicted," Guillaume continued, holding his arm. "However, that doesn't erase the damage entirely; you still feel as if you've been sliced wide open. It's as if you used your trademark Crush Claw on me," he said, again looking at Zante.

Zante looked at his claw. "That's right," he said. "When used with the intent of simply battling, our attacks rarely draw much blood."

"Can..." They turned to Takishi, who looked a little shy, a little excited. "Can I become a Slasher?" he asked.

Guillaume smiled and put a hand on his head. "Yes, you can," he answered, "but you're a little small to--"

"He's defeated blackbelts before," Kioshi said quickly before Takishi could demonstrate.

Guillaume blinked at the Ouendan. "Eh? How?" he asked. Sadly, Kioshi's efforts failed when the man was tossed mercilessly over Takishi's head and onto the deck, flat on his back. He simply blinked up at the sunset sky before laughing. "THAT'S how!! Ha-haaah!" He got up and turned to Takishi. "I suppose you must know the pain you will certainly face if you plan on becoming a Slasher," he said.

Takishi nodded. "I've had a rough life the past year or so; I can handle it," he told the man.

Guillaume smirked. "Well, then, if you say so." He stood up. "After we reach Sinnoh, you might as well come with me. I'm heading back to my homeland of Astori after I finish my business in Sinnoh. Astori's the region where Slashing came from, and the only place where it is fully recognized. Therefore, it's the only place to sign up. Talk it over with anyone you're with, first, though," he added, holding up a finger.

Takishi grinned and nodded. "Thank you, Guillaume!" he said before running down the deck and out of sight.

Guillaume looked to the others. "If nobody has any more questions, then I suppose I shall take my leave, as well," he said.

"Is there a Center on this ship?" Travis asked.

"Yes. Just look on the map over there," Guillaume pointed to a wall of the ship. Indeed, a sign was there with the map of the ship on it. "Farewell, everyone." He walked off, snapping his fingers to Mankey, who trotted after him. They left up the deck and out of sight.

Everyone just looked after him, blinking. "Just when you thought you'd seen it all," Kioshi muttered.

- - - - -

Yeah, my Slashers. As anyone who's read far enough in KH: PoT might know, I've already introduced them. It's my concept for a TRUE Pokémon Action-RPG (no offence to Ranger fans, but I don't really think spinning circles is much of an Action-RPG. Sure, I know there's more, but it's just not for me. Besides, the game series this fic is mostly for is the reason I'm avoiding games that involve lots of circles. ;P). What it would be is that, well, you'd be in control of a Slasher and up to three pokémon (something Guillaume forgot to mention, and dang, that's a hard name to type). There'd be two kinds of battles: Normal and Survival. The plot would include things that LOOK like Pokémon but aren't, and if you're defeated by them, it's Game Over and you start from the last save, like any other RPG. Normal battles are against most trainers and all normal wild pokémon. You lose, you wake up half your cash poorer in a Center. If the trainer's knocked out and they still have other pokémon, they can still win by you controlling the pokémon.

That's a main thing about it: you control your pokémon directly. During battles, you control whatever pokémon has been sent out and "command" it by moving around and using moves in real time. Once you issue a command that's like the trainer's Free-form, you'll be able to control another pokémon or your human trainer while the AI controls your pokémon. (I think how much you train with that pokémon affects how well the AI will work. If there's one thing I want, it's to not get yelled at for crummy friendly AI.) At any time, you can also use normal attacks, like in Mystery Dungeon.

Controlling your guy means you primarilly use normal attacks, but you can sometimes learn actual pokémon moves--ones that can be emulated with your weapon. It's a bit complicated, and I've bored you enough. But still, think: You could finally fulfil your most sadistic dreams and dice a pikachu. I really seriously want to run the idea by Ninty if I ever, EVER, get the chance that they'll listen to me. I'm going to write a fic based off of the story of the game someday, three characters of which I've already written about in this and another fic.

Anyway, yeah, writing this when it's night and I'm tired and a bit sick. Sorry. See ya!


	27. Keep Tryin'

_____

(27)_*_*_( ) (Some) (Much-Delayed) (Payoff)

(Yeah, cheating with that one, sorry n.n; )

Finally, we managed to get to the city of Wharfton after a sizable trek across a few days. I was getting tired of traveling with Ash, and especially of having to cheer for people. Something that calmed me just a little, though, was the sight of the city. It was beautiful: White and blue dominated the buildings' colors, the ocean lapped calmly at us, and the city's namesake spread across an entire mile. Let's not forget the enormous coliseum (or however that wretched word is spelled X( ), made to look like a mix between a traditional Roman-style arena and a cathedral. Three layers high of arches, the middle layer was decorated with a stained glass window in each arch. The building was built specially for that design feature, as there was a window depicting each pokémon type around the structure. In each one, as well, was a powerful or legendary pokémon known for that type. The international symbol for that type--some of which we recognized from the thing every kid at school instantly talks about whenever Pokémon is mentioned (u.u#), the TCG--was nearest the vertex of each arch.

"Hey, Lock," Ash said, pointing to the pictures of the thing in Brock's book (which showed it at four angles, each at a time of day and year that the best light hit the windows). "Can you identify what the pokémon are?" he asked, smiling.

Deciding to humor him, I put my hand to my chin and studied it for a moment. "Let's see..."

For Normal, there was Chansy. Fire had Moltress. Water had Kyogre. Electric had Zapdos. Grass had Celebi. Ice had Articuno. Fighting had Machamp. Poison had Skuntank. Ground had Groudon. Flying had Rayquaza. Psychic had Mew. Bug had Heracross. Rock had (to Brock's delight) Onix. Ghost had Mismagius. Dragon had Salamence. Dark had Mightyena. And Steel had two, Dialga and Palkia.

I named each one and smirked. "How's THAT?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Ash.

Ash smiled and held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, you've got skills," he admitted, then laughed at the fact he said that.

Continuing on, we went to the colosseum ((no, I never seriously went and looked at my copy of Pokémon Colosseum before)) and found a huge crowd of people around there, almost all of them trainers. I groaned loudly and put my face in my palm. "This line's gonna take a YEAR!" I complained.

"More like a millenium," joked Meyers, crossing his arms.

"Wow. An' I thought the lines at Disney World were pretty grim," Hunter muttered, looking a bit freaked at the size of it.

"You guys don't have to hang out around here," Ash said. "I'm the one who's doing this. You guys can go and explore the city or something if you want--I'll just be at the Center or here after registering. You could watch the prelims, too, if you really want, but you don't have to." He smiled offeringly.

"Thanks," I said, and turned to leave. My partners looked at me.

"What, not even gonna wish him good luck?" asked Meyers.

"This is a competition of skill, right?" I checked. They nodded. "Then luck's got nothing to do with it."

"Unless you're paired against someone who can type-trump all of your pokémon," Hunter pointed out.

"But otherwise he's right," admitted Ash, who seemed a little bummed, anyway. "Go on, I know you don't wanna waste any time."

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

"Like that?" I asked, begrudgingly getting out my badge. Since they had nothing better to do, Ash and company looked on as well.

-(*)-(*)-(*)-

The S.S. Iris watched as her passengers disembarked onto the docks of Wharfton. When they got off the ship and onto stable land, Kioshi stretched his arms. "Mmmmm, hello, Sinnoh," he breathed in relief. (To the surprise of only the viewers, he spoke in English. His voice sounded the exact same, though, and had no accent apart from a Western version of the one from his region of Japan.)

"Yeah, finally, huh?" Hibiki agreed, smiling at his companion.

They were walking down the dock together, hoping that nobody would challenge them to a battle. The wannabe Agents sighed happily. "It's nice to be back home," Frank commented. Dorian nodded in agreement.

They got to actual land and stopped to look around. A great deal of different kinds of people were going about. "So, what was it that those gazillion trainers that we had to battle onboard had said?" asked Kioshi. (They had, indeed, battled quite a lot. His friends had gained quite the boatload of experience.) "They wanted to get some practice in for some tournament?"

"Yeah," Suzu answered. "It's called the Wharfton Cup. Basically, if you win it, you earn yourself a badge to use to get into the Sinnoh League."

"Looks like a lot more work than normal for a badge," Hibiki mused, "at least in my opinion."

"Well, to each their own," Zante said, shrugging. "Shouldn't we be finding information on the Agents?" he asked.

"Can we get to the Pokémon Center and drop off our stuff, first?" asked Frank.

After they got a room at the Center, they were about to begin asking people around the Center about the Agents (their best bet) when, suddenly, the Ouendan and, this time, all three of their pokémon friends froze as they felt something.

"Someone's in trouble," Kioshi said seriously.

"I know," Travis said. The Ouendan looked at him in a bit of surprise. He had a serious look on his face. "There's not enough time for us to grab our uniforms, though," he muttered.

Frank and Dorian sweatdropped. "What, you honestly think we're gonna try doing something without rehersing?!" asked Frank.

"That's really not a good idea," Dorian warned.

"We've got to go, though," Kioshi said, turning and running out the door. Suzu, Hibiki, and their pokémon friends followed him.

"Wait!" called Travis, reaching after. He grimaced and beckoned with his arm. "C'mon, let's see how the Ouendan do things," he said, and, with the satiation of their curiousity as an incentive, they dashed after them.

- - - - -

(Now, back in the present...)

Team Rocket slumped weakly along, groaning, as they went through the city. They slumped their bodies forwards, stomachs gurgling loudly. "Uuuuugh...Foooood..." Jessie moaned.

(Team Rocket (Jessie, James, and Meowth), we went over this, like, chapter 4 or 5 or something)

James sighed. "We're flat broke, so it's a no-go," he lamented.

"If only wes could scrounge up some grub someway," Meowth said wistfully. "We's outta dough, dough!"

"But we need dough to get dough," James pointed out, frowning. "And I don't think this city's got many kind strangers or freebies..."

Just then, they saw a huge line of people. "Huh?" Jessie went, stopping and looking. "What's with the queue line the size of Sinnoh?"

A passerby heard the question and laughed. "Oh, doncha know?" she asked, batting her hand while holding her tote bag. "It's the Wharfton Cup, and all sorts-a folks're gettin' in line to be registered for the biggest battle for a badge in the world! It's quite a show, actually," she added. She grinned and held a fist. "Ooooh, I can't WAIT to go and cheer on my kids with the other girls!!" she said, walking off.

Team Rocket sweatdropped at this. "Er, yeah," Jessie mumbled. Then, she smiled and turned to her companions, who also smiled. "You know what this means, right?" she asked. They nodded.

"It's time for us to break out the old entrepeneur plan!" James answered.

"We'll make us some cash, an' den we use da fryin' pan!" Meowth described excitedly.

"""Now let's make all that we can!""" they cheered in unison, raising their fists together.

"Yeah, nice try," said a man in a square, white apron with a twisted headband on standing a ways away. He had his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"""Huh?""" Team Rocket turned their heads to look at him.

"The city's forbidden third-party booths that haven't cleared it with them--the deadline of which was three days ago--so if you're plannin' on sellin' anything, you're sunk," he described.

Team Rocket gaped in horror at this.

The man smirked and chuckled. "BUT," he said, opening an eye and looking at them, "I AM looking for some hands to do some part-time during this tournament, if you're interested."

Instantly, all three of them were starry-eyed and on their knees, clasping their hands (or paws) together and looking up at him. "Could you hire us?" Jessie asked.

"Pretty please?" James added.

"Wit' a cheri berry on top?" Meowth completed.

The man grinned and nodded. "Sure," he said, then gave them a fierce glare, making them freak a bit and cower under his firey gaze. "But ONLY if you promise me to work your best!"

"""We promise, we promise!!""" they wailed.

"Good!" the foreman said, back to normal and smiling. "Just come back here with me..." He turned, and Team Rocket followed.

"Well, looks like it's peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jack again," James said, looking happy but a bit disappointed.

"I'd be happy if I were you, Bottlecap Boy," Meowth sort of admonished him.

"Those are COLLECTORS' pieces!!" argued James, frowning.

Jessie sighed and looked up as she remembered past failures. "We DO earn some good money doing this, though," she said. "And it'd be pretty nice to finally be able to KEEP the cash we've made instead of getting ourselves into orbit before we collect!"

James and Meowth sighed and reminisced, as well. ""Yeah,"" they agreed. They all then put a fist into their palms with a determined face on akin to that of their primary prey's best friend. "This time, we're going to work and work and actually succeed for once!" James resolved.

"We'll just catch up wit' da Twerps later on!" Meowth planned. They all cheered again.

(It was at this point that, for the first time (since we didn't look into our badges for "Aisle 10"'s breifing), we saw ourselves looking at our badges. We sweatdropped and put them away quickly, standing and whistling like we had no part of this.

When they saw the Agents, Kioshi and company, which now included Travis and his friends, gasped and widened their eyes. "The Agents!!" the Ouendan member whispered hoarsely from his vantage point in the bushes.

"Shush, we've got work to do," Suzu definitely admonished him.

"Agents later, cheering now," Hibiki prioritized.

Kioshi nodded and continued to watch.)

Jessie was walking along up front. When her eyes strayed to the line, she stopped dead. "Hold it," she said. "You won't BELIEVE who's here!" The boys (the foreman walking onwards without them) popped their heads over and looked. They gasped, and all three of them instantly dived into the bushes. The Ouendan, wannabe Agents and all of their pokémon friends (Dragonair being ESPECIALLY careful not to be seen) peeked around a little bush separating the two groups.

(When Team Rocket went, we looked into our badges once more.)

"""It's the Twerps!""" TR went.

Jessie grinned and looked at them all. "Alright, this is a great chance!" she said.

"There's GOT to be someway good to get Pikachu here!" James squealed.

"Awright, let's jump 'im when he's weak!" Meowth suggested, smiling evilly. Once more, they cheered.

Wobbuffet came out of its (since it's already habit and I have no idea of the pokémon from Mystery Dungeon hell's gender) ball and saluted, "WAAAAba-WAba!!"

"What the--? HEY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" roared the voice of the foreman.

At this, all four of them froze, during which time their stomachs growled and they remembered the things they had said before. "But...what about our food?" asked Jessie weakly.

"We said we'd work for once," James recollected.

"But widdat Twerp here and da perfect chance to get dat Pikachu right undah our noses..." Meowth began.

They all looked at each other nervously, shaking. "We'll never be able to focus and do our job!" Jessie said.

"But our job is to capture Pikachu, right?" James asked.

"No, strong pokémon, of which dere's bound ta be LOADS of here along wit' Pikachu!" Meowth answered. This caused them all to twitch and freeze.

"IF YOU DON'T COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, YOUR JOBS ARE OUT THE WINDOW!!" the foreman threatened.

Team Rocket's mouthes twitched into smiles of disbelief. "Can you say..." Jessie began.

"...'impossible'...?" James finished and asked. Meowth nodded.

Wobbuffet gave an uneasy nod and shakilly said, "Woobbuuhh..."

The main trio looked towards the sky and cried out in emotional agony, all of their inner conflict represented in non-words. Wobbuffet joined them a bit later.

- - - - -

I raised an eyebrow and a nostril. "You're...kidding me," I grumbled.

Ash blinked at this. "They're...You've got to cheer on...Team Rocket?!" he asked. "And doing what? Trying to steal pokémon?"

"Probably to do the job that guy wants them to do," Hunter said, pointing to the foreman.

"Otherwise, why would we be given the job? We always help people when they need help on something positive," Meyers reasoned.

I scoffed and closed my badge, putting it away. "Are you guys nuts? Help Team Rocket?" I asked. "Who knows what those LOSERS are gonna do!"

"Lo-ock," Ash said, looking a bit mixed between sympathy for them and agreement with me. "I know they're mean, but it's still not nice to call them losers like that...I kinda feel a bit bad for them, now that I think about all those times at things like this where we blasted them off..."

I humphed and crossed my arms. "They'll live," I said. "Besides, I really don't know about this, regardless. They ARE Team Rocket." 'I wonder if he realizes that, for the majority of those times, they were selling fakes...'

For once, my teammates didn't yell at me. "Well..." Meyers went, squirming. "I guess you have a point."

"They ARE unpredictable," Hunter admitted. "And they're in a positive-positive situation; two things that are good for them. They could steal a bunch of pokémon, or they could earn money for themselves. Though, it looks like they really want to earn money for once..." he added, trailing off.

I shook my head. "Well, I'm sorry, but I don't trust them," I said. "They should look for sympathy from someone who doesn't know them well."

Ash frowned. "But...maybe..." he went, utterly at a loss as to what he should do.

- - - - -

After they cried out, Kioshi turned to the others, looking a bit mixed. "Well..." he muttered.

"I think the Agents are having the same thought as us," Suzu said, holding a finger up. "Rocket Dan might end up going for something bad with our cheering." [Rocket Dan is, I believe, what they call the Team Rocket trio in Japan. Don't quote me on it, though.]

"They've stuck with Ash this long," Hibiki reminded. "It's not like this one little failure's going to change the path of the series."

"What're you guys talking about?" asked Travis, raising an eyebrow.

The Ouendan squeaked and shook their heads and waved their hands at him, smiling and sweatdropping. "Nothing, nothing," Suzu lied, laughing uneasily.

Suddenly, Kioshi remembered something. "Wait...I remember, before we did 'SEASON'S CALL', I think I promised--or at least said something like it--that I would help out Team Rocket if we ever met them and they needed to do something virtuous." He looked over his shoulder as he heard the foreman start counting down from 10 slowly.

The bluendan raised their eyebrows at this, but then sighed and shook their heads. "Kioshi, you're an idiot, sometimes," Suzu muttered.

"Don't worry," said Travis, and they looked at him. The foreman counted to 9. Travis grinned wolfishly and thumbed his chest. "If ever they start trying to go bad, you just let me handle things if no one else does."

"How?" asked Hibiki.

Travis closed his lips and chuckled before parting them again. In place of his human set of teeth was a zig-zag of wolf's teeth, making the Ouendan scoot back a bit while he grinned at them. 8. "Think the tagline for Transformers, and that'll pretty much give you the answer," he hinted.

"Oh, so you'll just look at something round?" asked Suzu, holding a finger up.

"But, wait, he's already looked at tons of round objects and he didn't change," Hibiki pointed out.

Travis anime-fell. "It's...a bit different than that..." he muttered.

7. Kioshi looked over and saw them still sitting there. "C'mon, let's just do this," he said. "Doesn't look like the Agents are doing anything," he added, looking in their direction.

"So you're not going to do anything?" asked Ash.

"Nope," I answered, shaking my head. "Don't trust 'em."

"Sorry, I'm gonna have to play it safe, too," Meyers said, eyebrows sympathetically knit as he shrugged.

"Ditto," said Hunter before he clapped his hands to his mouth and sweatdropped.

"WHERE?!" went twenty trainers around, looking wildly about (even the foreman, who went "6--WHERE?!"). I silently frowned and simmered while Hunter chuckled nervously.

Kioshi and the others sweatdropped at this, assuming what happened. "Well, not much time left," he said, and he stood up. "Guys, you can watch, if you want to see how we do things," he added over his shoulder at Travis, Frank, and Dorian as Suzu and Hibiki stood up. The other pokémon stood, too.

Yena cocked his head curiously. "This sounds like it's going to be interesting," he commented in his language.

Dragonair smiled at him proudly. "Trust me, it's gonna!!" she assured him. 5.

"What song?" asked Hibiki.

"Best song involving a job we know," Kioshi answered.

"""'HARDWARE STORE?!'""" asked the wannabe Agents excitedly.

"No, you guys can do that yourselves sometime; it's American," Suzu answered. "We generally only do Japanese music."

4. "Let's GO, already!" Kioshi commanded, and they jumped out over the bush.

We heard this as we were walking off and looked to the side to see a kid with black hair in a black, lengthened-coated gakuran jump over a bush, followed closely by two other kids--one a girl with hair covering an eye and the other a boy with short, slick white hair--in blue military-style outfits. We raised our eyebrows and stopped. "You think...?" I asked.

"Naw," said Hunter.

"Why would any be here?" wondered Meyers.

We ignored it and went off as we heard music starting behind us.

-:-:-

(-)Instrumental

Jumping over from the bushes behind Team Rocket are Kioshi, followed by Suzu and Hibiki. Kioshi lands. """OSU!!"""

-:-:-Get to Work! A Steel Ball between Two Magnets!!-:-:-

(-)I don't care about anything

(-)Dou demo ii tte kao shinagara

(-)Zutto zutto inotteita

(-)Naimono nedari

(-)Chotto ya sotto de manzoku dekinai

(-)Dakara keep tryin'

Team Rocket (Jessie blandly recalling Wobbuffet) came out of the bushes weakly to face a fuming foreman. "Took you long enough," he complained, crossing his arms. "Get over here, get your uniforms on, and listen to what it is I want you to do." Team Rocket did as they were told, following him inside.

"...And that's it," he finished a while later. Team Rocket, dressed up in yellow aprons with matching white and yellow paper hats (the kind that resembles veterens' hats) (Jessie had her hair bunched up underneath hers), nodded. They were in a plain room with a desk, behind which stood the foreman. He pointed out the door. "Now, first!" he shouted. "Go to the stock room and fill the trays there up with provisions to sell!"

"""RIGHT!""" they went, dashing out.

When they got there, the line had diminished considerably outside. Therefore, many trainers had registered. Team Rocket, especially Jessie, squeaked as they saw the shared store room full of both concessions and trainers' pokéballs.

"They put the trainers' pokémon still to be inspected in the same room as the food!!" Jessie cried. She grinned evilly. "What a perfect chance to--"

""Jessie!!"" warned the boys, and Jessie gulped as she found herself torn. The boys didn't look too good, either, seeing as they had to resist letting her steal the pokéballs.

As they cowered at their own ambivalence, the Ouendan took their cue. """OSU!!"""

"""GOOOOOOOO!!""" Holding up their fists together and rising with fire in their eyes, they set to work.

Kioshi and the others slid into a spot in the back of the room. Travis and the others stood off to a side, watching them. """IKUZE!!...SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!!"""

-Juu-ji no owarai bangumi

-Shigoto no tsukare iyashite mo

-Hitori ga sukoshi iya ni naru yo

-Souiu no mo daiji to omou kedo

As Utada Hikaru's "Keep Tryin'" was heard, the trio cheered the trio on. ((KH had little to no reason behind the artist choice; it was the song, honest. Listen to it and you will feel GREAT, I assure you!)) For now, it was mainly Jessie they had to worry about. At first, Jessie, James, and Meowth were working to fill up trays with snacks, with Meowth running back and forth, carrying full and/or empty trays between the pile of empty ones, the two humans, and the pile of full ones. Jessie and James were gathering up food in trays to give to Meowth to cart back, with James doing a bit better than Jessie. Jessie was trying to do her work, somewhat slowly, but she kept stopping while looking longingly at the pokéballs right next to her. James and Meowth would call at her to get her attention and she'd go back after jumping. Then, for just the shortest bit, Jessie was filling her trays with pokéballs. When Meowth came to collect, he yelped and tossed them back into the cart with the others (after hesitating for a moment). James just stood, unsure of what to do. This all quickly changed back to the way before, then to a step better: All three of them were working their butts off, with Jessie and James each filling two trays each time while Meowth ran back and forth, all of them with wildly determined faces on.

The foreman suddenly barged in, shouting, "STATUS REPORT!!" as he held his hand on the slammed door.

Team Rocket squacked and started violently in the middle of their work, things seen flying up in the air in front of them (but behind them from the camera's viewpoint). They stood motionless, sweatdropping, as the Foreman came over to them. He couldn't see the contents of their trays from where he'd come in.

""Everything's/Everyting's fine, sir!"" reported James and Meowth (respectively) as the foreman inspected them. Meowth had, after jumping from startlement, barely caught his tray's contents, forming a couple stacks of boxed pizza slices, foil-wrapped hot dogs, and cans of soda. James had caught all of the food he had been gathering--wrapped hot dogs--in his hands, elbowpits (crook of the arm? I dunno...), armpits, chin, arms (pressed to chest), mouth, and a couple between his legs. He had also been getting a can of soda, which was now balancing on top of his head, crushing his poor hat.

"Good!" the foreman went, nodding. He walked to Jessie, who "!!"'ed when he approached her and said, "Well?" He saw her and gasped. "What the--?!"

Jessie was standing there, grossed-out/not-a-happy-camper face on (complete with eye and corner-of-mouth twitches), while she wore pizza slices, unboxed, all over her face, head, and front. "Everything's...fine...sir..." she replied through gritted teeth.

The foreman sweatdropped and put an arm behind his head. "Oh, dear, did I scare everyone?" he wondered aloud, smiling in sympathetic humor. Behind him, James and Meowth gave nervous chuckles, uneasy around Jessie.

"My hair..." Jessie squeaked, still frozen in place.

Wobbuffet came out of its ball just then, about to give its salute when it saw Jessie's state. It sweatdropped and backed off nervously, ending up going, "WAAA-buh-WA--buu-u-uu-u-uuh..."

(Frank and Dorian looked at each other, each raising an eyebrow. "And she still fails?" Frank asks.

"Weren't those guys s'posed to--" Dorian began, which brought Dragonair's head whipping around in a glare.

"She wasn't caught with pokéballs in her arms, was she?" Travis cut in, raising an eyebrow of his own over his shoulder. His friends had to agree.

Dragonair nodded, eyes closed while thinking, ''S'what I thought.')

---(O)---

(-)Kyonen yori

(-)Mendoukusagari ni natteru zo

(-)Chousensha nomi

(-)Moraeru gohoubi hoshii no

The foreman addressed them in the same room as before. "There're starving spectators out there with money to spare!" he informed them curtly, arms crossed. "Go out there and make me proud!"

"""Yes, sir!""" the trio replied, Wobbuffet coming out and saluting with them before Jessie made it return.

They came out of an entrance in the middle floor of the stadium, carrying their trays in uniform, smiling a bit. When they saw the intense battling down below, James' eyes sparkled, but they quickly changed into shrinking pupils at the crowd turning to them and happily roaring, glad their sustanence had arrived.

"Never get a break, do we...?" James muttered, gulping. 'I kinda want to watch the battle...'

(The Ouendan slid into position someplace down the aisle in front of them.)

"""OSU!!"""

-I don't care about anything

-Chotto chikoku shita asa mo

-Koko kara ganbarou yo

-Nando demo kitai suru no

-Baka mitai nanka ja nai

-Dakara keep tryin'

Initially, James, the one the Ouendan had to worry about the most this time, was doing the best of them, but it went away in an instant. He was then doing moderately with the crowd. He walked about, stopping at a hungry customer to give them food or drink. Between each of them, he looked over his shoulder at the battling below. Jessie and Meowth were doing fine, but they frowned a bit when they noticed James looking at the battle before they had to go attend to calling customers, as well. Then, for a brief moment, James was in the middle of the aisle between seats, standing and staring, wearing a content boy's oblivious smile, at the battling. Around him, people in stands shouted and threw things at him, such as shoes, cans, and even the occasional pokéball (which failed to open), to no avail. His teammates tried to pull him away, angry-faced and yelling, but James was glued. Thankfully, this only lasted for a couple seconds before he was back to the way he was at first. The blue-haired young man rocketed around, giving people their drinks, or stood and rapid-fire threw wrapped hot dogs and boxed deep-dish pizza slices at others. He had no time to collect money, so Meowth, sharing in the energy along with Jessie, popped around to people (as in the disappear-reappear motif that's sometimes used in anime) and got the cash. Jessie dashed to an fro, giving people on the edges of the aisle their orders. All three of them had wildly-determined looks again. This lasted until just before the end of the segment, where they went back to their medium level of energy and effort.

Jessie and Meowth were darting left and right, filling calling mouthes, while James was standing and looking at the battle intently. Meowth finally stopped, anger-veined, and shouted, "EARTH TA JIMBO!!"

James started out of his watching and turned around to find the foreman's head starting to peek out of the entrance. His face freaked as he looked at his boss. "Oh, no! If I'm found slacking, he'll be sacking!!" he muttered worriedly. He looked left and right at the crowd, searching for orders to fill. Thankfully, the crowd's hunger hadn't abated, and they were shouting all sorts of orders.

"NACHOS, YO!" "PIZZA, PLZ!" "HOT DOG, DAWG!" "SODA, POPS!"

James, with a determined face, cried, "Alright, order UP!!" while he grabbed then unleashed concessions at their consumers. Each one he threw was caught by a happy person, each of whom said, "THANK YOU!"

The foreman stopped in the center of the aisle soon afterwards. He crossed his arms and smiled as he glanced around and saw the crowd of happy customers. "Now that's quality, hard work!" he complimented.

All three Rocket members were collecting the money from James' customers. Jessie and Meowth, with an appearing and saluting Wobbuffet, pumped a fist as they cheered for James. ""YEAH!!"" ("WAAAA-BA-FET!!")

James breathed a sigh of relief. His hair was a little unkempt from the exertion. "Phew!"

(Among the people who recieved food from Team Rocket were us. (We'd come back in time to watch some battles, which were always exciting.) I frowned a bit as I saw through their flimsy disguises. "Team Rocket? Then...they really ARE being helped by..." I looked away and turned up my nose a bit. "Peh, they're either brave or stupid." I heard a concession vendor come up and held out my right hand. "Load 'er up," I told them without looking.

"Who are? And that was really cliché," Meyers asked, looking at me. He was nibbling on a soft pretzel.

"Whoever's actually supporting the bad guys," I replied, still not looking.

"Lock..." Hunter groaned, frowning. He was sipping on some Coke.

Agitated at the thought of MORE reprimands, I whipped my head around and snapped, "WHAT?"

Hunter just pointed and said, "Mind your tongue..."

I looked in the direction he was pointing and gritted my teeth as I reeled back a bit. There was a very smug-looking Meowth with his paw out, making the "pay up" gesture with it while he had the other on his hip. I growled, holding up my right hand. My hot dog, which I'd caught before, now had ketchup, mustard, onion, relish, and a little hot sauce piled onto it. I seethed and boiled, feeling as if I would explode from embaressment and hatred that I was being treated so rudely by someone I disliked.

Meowth saw my body shimmering violently and a pair of evil eyes appear behind me. The more I thought about it and fumed, the worse I became. He could practically feel the heat, and he was wondering why those eyes weren't lighting the surroundings, they were becoming so bright. Needless to say, this was freaking him out, but he knew he had to keep professional. So, bravely, he said nothing and continued to wait.

After a moment, I humphed and thrust my hand into my pocket. "Better not embezzle this, you little crook," I grumbled.

"Aaaaan'?" Meowth went.

I anger-veined and added through gritted teeth, "THANKS." I slapped my payment in his paw hard before taking a peeved bite into the hot dog.

"Pleasha doin' business witcha!" Meowth nearly sang as he went and collected his fee from Hunter before leaving us. As he left, he shivered all over. "Boy, DAT was differn'," he muttered. "Wonda when dey's gonna call an exorcist..." The shimmering and eyes, he recalled, had calmed down when I had resigned myself to payment, and they'd flared for a moment when I'd anger-veined. They were now calming down to a simmer behind him as he glanced over his shoulder. "I'd betta just fugget about it..."

As soon as he left, I stopped chewing, blinked, and drooped my face to shadow out my eyes, anger-veining more. I swallowed slowly while I lowered my head. "What's wrong? Taste bad?" Meyers asked, leaning his head over a bit to look at me.

"Worse," I grumbled.

"It tastes great," Hunter finished for me, smirking.

"Shut up," I said weakly. Despite myself, I took another bite of that bliss in a bun. I'll admit: To this day, I've yet to have a better hot dog.)

---(O)---

(-)Honto wa dare yori hangurii

(-)Kimochi no midare kakushite mo

(-)Maiasa yowakime na sugao

(-)Utsusu kagami taiji shitai yo

The foreman addressed them again, same place, same look, but this time at night. "Alright, now it's time for the trainers!" he said. "To the restaurant!"

"""Yes, sir!""" the trio replied, Wobbuffet coming out and saluting with them before Jessie made it return.

The restaurant, which was inside the place's built-in Pokémon Center, was vast and filling with trainers. The far wall was made entirely of glass windows, showing a bounty of pokémon playing around or resting around the gently-lit exterior. Team Rocket was happily doing counter--well, the humans, anyway. Meowth was too short. He looked up sadly at his teammates with his arms out. "Hey, dis ain't fair," he whined. "I can't be seen empty-pawed!"

"Then make sure the pokémon outside don't eat from each other's food dishes," instructed the foreman, standing over him and pointing outside. "Use this to stop them if necessary," he added, giving him a bazooka-like gun that was labled, "NET BLASTER 4000".

Meowth, seeing many prime pokémon resting and just waiting to be swiped and himself with the thing to swipe them with, was more uneasy than Jessie and James. "Dis is...pure tortcha," the Normal-type whined.

(Kioshi, Suzu, and Hibiki skidded into a spot outside in the area he was going to be.)

"""OSU!!"""

-Tsukiyo no negai, utsukushii mono dakeredo

-Hyouteki ni natte, doro ni tobikonde

-Lady, let's go!*

-I don't care about anything

-Kuuru na poozu kimenagara

-Jitsu wo iu to tatakatteta

-Taisetsu na inochi

-Tottemo kinishi na

-Anata wa sukoshi yasuminasai

-Taimu izu manee**

-Shourai kokkakoumuin da

-Nante iu na, yume ga nai na

-Aijou yori money?

-Daarin wa sarariiman datte ii jan

-Ai ga areba

(FOOTNOTES AHEAD. IGNORE IF DESIRED.)

(*Technically, that's the wrong lyric, but that's exactly what I thought she said when I heard it first. Most lyrics have it in a way the Japanese would write it in kana--all one word that makes more sense aloud than in Romanji. However, I'm leaving it that way because I think that's what it is. Besides, it may be the true "real" lyric, seeing as Utada Hikaru speaks English as a brought-up-with-it other language.)

(**Japanesized (or whatever the proper term is) "Time is money".)

(END FOOTNOTES.)

At first, Team Rocket was doing their job moderately well. Indoors, Jessie and James took orders quite plainly, not smiling very much, while the dinner crowd came in. Outdoors, Meowth, surrounded by pokémon eating from dishes found on a cart laden with them, was walking about, keeping the net gun in his paws. He looked nervous, whipping it up and firing at a snorlax or other pokémon looking to swipe some food every now and then when they ignored his shout. After he was sure they'd learned, he hesitated, then pressed a button on the gun that made it emit a robotic "RELEASING PREY" while it sent the signal to the launched net, telling it to open up and let the captured pokémon go. He looked pained while he pressed it. After a while of this, things began to heat up. Jessie and James were smiling and serving customers with speed and hospitality, giving Meowth thumbs-ups through the window during pauses between customers. The pokémon, meanwhile, was at peak physiological arousal and alertness. He had ditched the gun and was looking about intently. Whenever he saw a pokémoocher, he pounced while his eyes went into the semi-circles that we all should be familiar with by now. The food theif was repelled by his vigorous assault of Fury Swipes and a finishing punt to the jaw. He'd then jump back to his spot and start searching again. (His actions remind this storyteller of Mr. Mew from The World Ends with You, actually.) This wasn't to last, though, and a couple seconds before the end, Meowth was running for his life across the outdoor space, chased by a big, angry aggron. Around them were a few pokémon trapped in nets with confused faces on. Jessie and James were stuck nervously serving customers, glancing outside with their eyes now and then. They persperated in anxiety.

(WOO-gah, sorry about the Great Paragraph of China...)

The foreman came in for his dinner, as well, and went to Jessie and James. "Doing well, I surmise?" he asked them, leaning his arm on the counter and looking at them.

""Uuuummm..."" when the two humans, looking nervously at each other.

A knock came from the door behind the counter that Meowth had left through. "'Ey, Jess, James, open up an' help me widda cart!" Meowth called from behind it. "I's gotta special delivery!"

Jessie and James sweatdropped and paled, gulping, before they opened the door. The foreman gasped in shock at what he saw as he looked over their shoulders. "What on--?!"

Meowth pushed in the cart, which had a munchlax sitting on top of it, looking guilty inside its net. "Could yous guys tell da owna of a munchlax who can't keep deir grubby mitts offa udda pokémon's grub to call it back?" he asked, stopping and putting his paws on his hips and looking a bit grumpy midway through his sentence.

The foreman laughed heartily. "BWAH-HAH-HAH! Good idea!" he said, grinning. "Better to bring it back in than waste time with it!"

The other two breathed a sigh of relief at this, mopping their brows. "You could've just asked us instead of give our payrolls heart attacks," admonished James.

Meowth grinned feistily and joked, "But where's da fun in dat?"

(Outside, Dragonair, Croconaw, and Teddiursa poked their heads from the shrubbery. They looked at Meowth from behind. "Well, it looks like things are going smoothly, so far," Dragonair said. "Let's keep an eye on him more, though."

Croconaw and Teddiursa nodded in agreement. They heard chuckling from behind them and saw Zante and Vesp pop out, as well. Zante raised an eyebrow at Dragonair. "Really, now?" he asked.

"Looked more to us like you were keeping an eye on the Ouendan," Vesp observed, wearing a sly smile.

Dragonair blushed and sweatdropped simultaneously as she took a (figurative) step back. "Aaah, er, w-well, we couldn't really help it, since they WERE right there," she excused.

""REALly,"" went Zante and Vesp before laughing.

"Actually, I was, too," admitted Yena, appearing from the bushes, too. (All six had been sent to be the "bodyguards" this time, seeing as Travis had to eat dinner like a normal person.) The others, but especially Dragonair, looked at him in surprise. He watched the humans standing and waiting in the shadows of some trees and cocked his head. "Something really...intrigues me about them," he muttered. "More than the fact they're cool..."

Dragonair smirked secretly at the praise for her friends, but couldn't help but wonder, 'Is it...the effect they're making?...')

---(O)---

(-)(Instrumental)

(-)I don't care about anything

(-)Dou demo ii tte kao shinagara

(-)Zutto zutto...(inotteita)

(-)Naimono nedari

(-)Motto da motto da manzoku dekinai

(-)Dakara keep tryin'

"Alright," said the foreman, crossing his arms as he looked at the trio, "you've earned your supper." They looked excited at the prospect of this. "BUT! They're short on hands for cleaning the stadium before tomorrow," the foreman continued. "I want you to help them out for a while." Team Rocket whimpered and widened their eyes in horror. "If you've done a good job, though, I'll take you to an all-you-can-eat buffet," he offered, smiling. "How's about that?"

Instantly, they were smiling and salivating, eyes swimming with shines as they clasped their hands (and paws) together and leaned forward, nodding. """DEAL!!""" they promised.

After they got to the dark stadium, they found some workers there, cleaning up the place. One of the janitors saw them and smiled, grey comblike moustache lifting. "Oh, you're the help!" he said. "C'mon, take dem dere trash bags n' pokers and get up in 'em stands. Folks is real messy with deir junk, don'cha know."

"C'mon, let's work for that buffet," Jessie said.

""Don't need to tell us twice!"" the boys cheered happily.

Just then, a brunette man in a biker's outfit stepped in. He grinned, the action being done somewhere between mischivously and evilly. "The field's empty--perfect place to do some freeform training!" he announced. He pointed at the group. "I ain't leavin' 'til one of you guys gives me a good training buddy!"

"Uh-oh, dat dere's one-a dem Slasher fellows," the unnerved janitor whispered to Jessie, James, and Meowth. "Don'cha mind him and get to work, now, eh?"

"C'mon! I'm fighting the first pokémon out of a ball!" the Slasher went on.

And, lo and behold, out came Wobbuffet. "WAAAA-ba-WA-ba!" it saluted.

The Slasher grinned and released a tyrannitar and an ampharos. "AWRIGHT, A PUNCHING BAG!!" he squealed. "FREEFORM 'EM!" They began to run towards the blue pokémon, who started, yelped, and sweatdropped.

Jessie squacked. "AACK! Wobbufett, use--" she began, but the Slasher cut her off.

"NUH-UH! Freeform training means NO COMMANDS!!" the biker scolded her, frowning.

"We gotta work or we ain't gettin' no buffet, Jess!" Meowth called over his shoulder, frowning in worry like the others (including Wobbuffet). "'Sides, we can't do nuttin' whidda Slashah!"

Jessie reluctantly joined her friends while Wobbuffet ran for its comic relief life.

(The Ouendan stopped in place underneath an entrance to the floor of the field.)

"""OSU!!"""

(This time, instead of just the trio getting pumped, Wobbuffet joined in on the encouragement, saluting and shouting with the others.)

-Donburakokko

-Yo no naka tsugi shizumi ga hageshii naa

-Donna toki demo

-Kachi ga kawara nai no wa tada anata

To put things as simply as possible for the first part of this segment, poor Wobbuffet was a living tennis ball as it was bashed between a laughing tyrannitar and ampharos, spinning sideways like a wheel with spiral eyes and trailing limbs. Jessie was in the stands, looking in horror at her poor pokémon. She wasn't doing anything but stand there, and James and Meowth couldn't budge her for the life of them. Thankfully, this lasted briefly and Wobbuffet gave a rebuttal with Counter to stop the game. It now danced about, dodging attacks when it could and using Counter or Mirror Coat when it couldn't evade. Its expression was one of franticness, nervous sweatdrop almost never leaving its head. Behind it, Team Rocket was walking about the stands, picking up garbage at a moderate rate. Jessie kept looking back at Wobbuffet worriedly. Then, Wobbuffet got its act together and stood still, giving a standard Wobbuffet expression while it either Countered or Mirror Coated in an instant. Tyrannitar tried to dive and attack physically, but the Counter was so strong, it was bounced back. Ampharos tried to use electric attacks, but Mirror Coat returned to sender. Team Rocket, meanwhile, was rushing around, picking up garbage at a record rate. Jessie occasionally stopped and rooted for Wobbuffet.

The Slasher grinned and flicked out a switchblade. "Alright, let's see if you can handle this," he smirked before yelling, "CHAAARRGE!" and dashing with his two pokémon.

"WOBBUFFET!!" Jessie cried in horror, reaching out to it.

Wobbuffet remained where it was. It bunched up, as if charging a burst of energy from its body. "Woooooooooo..." it went.

"LIGHTS OUT, BLUEY!!" the Slasher taunted as they approached contact.

Suddenly, at the last second, Wobbuffet thrust itself into a stand, puffing its chest out and throwing its arms to its sides, shouting, "...BBUFFET!!" As it did so, it unleashed the largest Counter anyone had ever seen. The pokémon and Slasher charging at it hit it and were blasted back as if they were all at 999%.

As they became crying specks in the distance, Team Rocket chimed, """Looks like someone ELSE is blasting off!!"""

As a result of the distraction's removal, the stadium was spotless when the foreman came to check on them. "How's it--WOW!" he exclaimed when he saw the sparkling arena. "You guys must have really wanted that buffet!"

Team Rocket grinned and gave a Wobbuffet salute beside Wobbuffet itself as they replied, """You have no idea!!"""

(Watching all of this from a stadium seat were Dragonair, Teddiursa, and Croconaw. Dragonair smiled and cheered, "GO, KIOSHI!!"

Teddiursa and Croconaw, down a seat from her, watched with raised eyebrows the Ouendan standing in the shadow of a ground-floor entrance as they waited again. "Remember, they're only helping, but..." Teddiursa muttered.

"...I'll have to admit, there IS something about them that's really getting me excited," finished Croconaw.

Dragonair raised her eyeridges at this. "Dra?" She lowered herself down to between them and asked, "Are you guys saying...?"

They looked at her, then at each other, then at her again with shrugs, faces in wonder, for some reason.)

---(O)---

(-)Shounen wa itsumademo itsumademo kataomoi

(-)Jounetsu ni jounetsu ni onedan tsukerare nai

(-)Otousan keep tryin', tryin'

(-)Okaasan keep tryin', tryin'

(-)Oniichan, shashou san, oyomesan keep tryin', tryin'

The next day, the foreman addressed them in the "breifing room" once more. "Alright," he said, "do your best today, since it's the last day--and they're going to be wilder than ever!" He smirked. "Don't let me down!"

"""YES, SIR!!""" went Jessie, James, and Meowth.

Wobbuffet gave its salute and agreed as well, "WAA-BAH!"

(The Ouendan, in place in the stands' aisle again, looked at each other and nodded. After they gave their """OSU!!""", they found they were joined by Travis' swinging while they stood, ready to begin.

In full ameture Agent garb AND transformation (to further disguise himself), he grinned wolfishly at them and confessed, "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help it anymore! Let's finish this out!!"

(At the other end of the stadium, I suddenly had the feeling that someone had stolen a line from me, leaving me to look about in unhappy confusion.)

"Just don't get in our way too much," warned Kioshi seconds before starting the final segment.)

-Shounen wa itsumademo itsumademo kataomoi

-Jounetsu ni jounetsu ni onedan tsukerare nai

-Otousan keep tryin', tryin'

-Okaasan keep tryin', tryin'

-Oniichan, shashou san, oyomesan keep tryin', tryin'

Team Rocket plus Wobbuffet (who had been given a uniform, too) raced about, filling orders for the crowd at record speed and fervor. Sure, they got tired and slowed down. Sure, they stopped in an aisle and looked around them in helplessness as orders came left and right. But these only lasted a couple seconds and they were back on the ball for the rest of the time, energy flowing through them.

"AAAAAND THAT'S THE END OF IT!!" called--again, to every Ouendan's and (official) Agent's surprise--Mr. Announcer, raising his arm. "The winner of this year's Wharfton Tournament is..." He thrust his arm to his side to indicate a young boy with spikey hair and a regular-looking outfit. "Andrew Hallman!!" The crowd roared.

Team Rocket watched from the top of the stadium, trays empty. They saw the other finalists--which included Ash--clapping for Andrew while Mr. Announcer presented the Wharfton Badge (which was in the shape of a dock) to him. They had tired smiles on (except for Wobbuffet, whose expression rarely changed). "Hey, guys, c'mon," called the foreman from an entranceway.

"Well, you've done me excellent work," the foreman said, back turned while the others were seated behind the table. They were in the "breifing room" again. The foreman smiled and turned around, waving a few envelopes in his hand. "I'm not disappointed in the least bit at all. I'd love to have you on full-time, you're such astounding workers!" He tossed the envelopes to them. "Here're your paychecks--you certainly earned them!"

Team Rocket smile-gaped and caught the envelopes (well, Wobbuffet missed its and got it smack on the forehead, to its apathy). When they opened them and found the amount of money within, they gasped and went starry-eyed.

"I've never gotten so much money in my life!" Jessie exclaimed.

"This is fabulous!!" James squealed.

"Now DIS is DOUGH!" Meowth announced.

"WA-BAA!!" Wobbuffet went, though unsure about the money it got. (Since it had worked the least time of them, it had recieved the least money. It didn't care, though.)

They bowed deeply to the foreman, saying, """THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"""

The foreman laughed and shook his head. "No, thank YOU for doing so great a job!" he said. He grinned at them. "Now, go on, live your hard-working lives wisely!!"

A bit later, the sun set in the sky while Jessie, James, and Meowth walked out, back in their normal outfits. Jessie looked at the money in her hands. "What is this feeling?" she asked, smiling.

"It's a feeling we've rarely felt before," James said, crossing his arms, smiling, and closing his eyes.

"It's da feeling of VICTORY!!" Meowth cheered, jumping up and pumping his fist.

Wobbuffet came out of its ball and saluted, "WAAA-ba-fet!"

Jessie looked up to the sky and said, "Victory...So sweet. No rose can compare."

"Say, what's this feeling that I've got, now?" James asked, looking up as well.

"I'd say dat's hope, 'cuz if we's did great for dat boss, maybe dat means we can do just as great for DA boss!" Meowth answered, looking up with the rest of them.

Jessie grinned and looked at her friends. "Alright! We're never going to give up, EVER, on anything we do, are we?" she asked, holding a fist to her chest.

James smiled determinedly and clenched his fist. "Never in a million years!" he replied.

"We're gonna keep goin' til' we can't go no' mo'!!" Meowth resolved, holding his own fist.

"WabBA!" Wobbuffet said, holding its fist, too.

"Now!" Jessie turned and pointed off down the path. "Onwards from the sunset of Team Rocket failure and to the dawn of Team Rocket success!!"

They began running with a jump and cheer. """WE'RE BLASTING OFF LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!""" "WAAAA-BAA!!"

(-)Shounen wa itsumademo itsumademo kataomoi

(-)Jounetsu ni jounetsu ni onedan tsukerare nai

(-)Otousan keep tryin', tryin'

(-)Okaasan keep tryin', tryin'

(-)Oniichan, shashou san, oyomesan keep tryin', tryin'

- - -

Another day sees them camped out nearby where the Twerps--er, where Ash and co. are visible through the trees. They're joyfully feasting on a picnic full of food. Jessie looks over her shoulder at their primary prey, James organizes his bottlecap collection with one hand (with Mime Jr. out and copying him), and Meowth is talking happily. Wobbuffet is just sitting and eating. The afternoon sunlight shines brightly on them all.

-:-:-

The Ouendan stood and watched as they ran off excitedly under the warm-colored sky. Travis stood a bit away, big arms crossed. His friends came over to join him as he watched Kioshi nod to his teammates.

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"

"SEI!"

"KO!"

(...)

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! *clappity-clappity*)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

(...)

TEUUSHH!!

- - - - -

- - - -

- - -

- -

-

Kioshi looked at his teammates and smiled. "That was awesome, guys," he said. "I'd say we did well for a two-day cheer."

Hibiki chuckled and put his face in his hands, fingers going into his hair a bit. "Yeah, I hope so," he muttered. "I'm really tired from keeping it up that long."

Suzu sighed and nodded. "Yes, rest is probably in order," she agreed.

Kioshi raised his eyebrows. "But what about the Agents?" he asked. "They're still here, right?"

"I didn't see that Ash kid leave, and I think they're still traveling with him," Travis said, walking over to them.

"Oh, really?" Kioshi asked. "Thanks. Oh, and you did great in keeping with us during the finale," he added, smiling and holding out his gloved hand. "It was interesting working with a wolf, even if it was indirect."

Travis barked a laugh and took the white glove into his grey paw, shaking. "Come on, you guys were absolutely fanTAStic!" he complimented. "I was really feeling the groove and just wanted to join the fun, I guess. Dunno how I managed to feel where you guys were going, but it worked, right?"

Kioshi withdrew his hand and crossed his arms again, nodding. "It did." He looked at his teammates again, looking a bit more serious once more. "What about the Agents, though?" he asked.

Suzu and Hibiki held their hands up. "Kioshi, look, we need to get some rest," Suzu said. "We've been tensing our spirits for two days in a row. I'm surprised you're not practically sagging, yourself."

Kioshi shook his head. "I'm tired, too, but not so much that I can't meet the Agents," he said. "What could be so draining about them?"

Hibiki's mouth slanted uncertainly. "You...didn't feel it?" he asked. "There was something about them that feels dangerous. VERY dangerous."

"Not just that," added Zante, walking over from the bushes with Vesp draped about him as usual, "but we've just interviewed that boy Ash's pikachu. He's been seeing some pretty effed up stuff about one of them, named Lock."

At this, Kioshi and Travis raised their eyebrows high and turned to the overweight Normal-type. ""'Interviewed?'"" they repeated.

Zante nodded as the other pokémon came from the bushes, as well. They'd all been hiding from Team Rocket to prevent any break in the scene (they WERE all technically wild, after all, and Dragonair would've been too hard to resist). "Yeah. I did it while you guys followed them down from the top of the coliseum," he said.

*FLASHBACK!*

I crossed my arms as Ash came towards us in the lobby looking a bit depressed. "Aw, buck up, it's not the end of the world," I grumbled. I knew I was shot looks by my teammates.

Ash sighed and smiled sadly. Pikachu didn't look too happy, either. "Yeah, you're right, Lock," he admitted. "I think I like a traditional Gym battle better, anyway." He smiled normally.

"There's the Ash we know," Brock said encouragingly, patting his friend on the back.

"But it WAS a pretty cool tournament," Dawn pointed out, holding up a finger. "Those were some of the most intense battles I've ever seen."

"And that's got to be the strongest pikachu I'VE ever seen!"

We turned around at the sound of the voice. Nobody was standing there except for an obese zangoose with a seviper wrapped around it--but not in a squeeze-the-life-outta-ya kind of way, judging by its content face. Ash, Brock and Dawn blinked at this. "Huh?" went Ash. "...Wait, aren't those two pokémon supposed to be enemies?" He pointed to them and looked over at Brock.

"Yeah, they're natural enemies," Brock confirmed.

Dawn looked them up on her pokédex, which said that both of them hated the other. "Well, maybe there're exceptions?" she suggested.

The zangoose suddenly gave out a deep laugh. "Never thought anyone'd figure it out before we explained it!" it said.

...Wait, IT?!

We all started back a couple steps, my surprise overriding any other emotion for the moment. "What the deuce?!" I exclaimed. "Did you just...?" 'ANOTHER one?'

"Talk?" he finished, raising an eyebrow at me and giving a smirk. The seviper looked equally smug. He put a paw on a chubby hip and walked over. "Correctamundo, 007."

"Double-O..." I repeated, my anger settling back in as I scowled a little. I didn't like this guy already.

"The name's Zante, and this is my girlfriend, Vesp," the pokémon introduced, pointing first to himself and then to the seviper.

"How do you do?" greeted Vesp, nodding her head politely.

I raised a nostril at this. "Girlfriend...?" I muttered. 'And they're natural enemies? ...That is SO wrong...'

"Woah!! I never thought I'd see another talking pokémon besides Meowth so soon! This is so cool!" Dawn cried, smiling. She went on her knees to get closer to them. "How'd you learn to talk?" she asked.

"Lots of hard work," Zante answered, chuckling. "I actually have made it my job to teach other pokémon Human. I call myself a Pokémon Linguist." He smiled and crossed his arms. "I'd be glad to give some of your pokémon lessons if you don't mind having another mouth to feed for a couple weeks," he offered.

"Well, two mouthes," corrected Vesp, giggling.

"Yeah," Zante agreed, and they laughed like any lovey-dovey couple. I could swear I tasted bile.

"I think we're enough extras, sorry," Hunter apologized, hand behind his head.

Zante shrugged. "Alright, I get it," he said. "Besides, that's not why I'm over here." He let his arms down and looked at Ash. "Say, Ash, was it?" he asked.

Ash raised his eyebrows and stepped forward. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind if I talked with your pikachu for a bit?"

I growled. "What, you just come over and weird us out with your laws-of-nature-breaking relationship--" I began.

"It's been proven that, ironically enough, zangoose and seviper can breed," the dark-skinned Breeder interrupted, holding up a finger, "so it doesn't quite break the laws of nature. Besides," he added, grin-smirking and putting his chin in his hand, "true love defies every law imaginable." His eye gleamed.

"Ugh," I groaned, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. "But regardless, I don't think you have any right to come up and ask to talk to Ash's pokémon like that," I continued, pointing at Zante. "I mean, what are you, a reporter? Or, for all we know, you're working to capture Pikachu."

"Lock, I can speak for myself, thank you," Ash said harshly at me.

I opened my mouth to say something, but he turned away before I could. Instead, I glared at him, fists shaking at my sides as I fumed, 'Speak for yourself?! You're a moron! You've fallen for Team Rocket's disguises since you were born! Every time someone suddenly comes outta the blue and wants to see Pikachu, it's them!! I'm only trying to HELP you, you blatently stupid retard who can only yell commands in battle like a jackass, so LISTEN!!' I could have sworn I was getting warmer. 'I mean, I'm older than you, I didn't drop out of school EVER, I live in New York--and, if that doesn't work, then I'll just use some random pokémon and kick your happy-ass aft end and get through that thick skull of yours the only way I can!!'

Vesp could see the shimmering around my body grow harsher and more violent as I raged inside my head. The eyes were blazing like wildfire, now, with the flames licking my body. 'Surprised his shades aren't glowing red,' she thought, shrinking back from me a little.

Ash, meanwhile, smiled at Zante. "Sure, but may I come with?" he asked.

Zante smiled and nodded. "Of course!" he said. He turned and beckoned with his arm. "C'mon, let's find someplace quiet."

"Okay!" Ash said. He looked at us. "I'll go to the Center after this, alright?" he asked.

"Alright, we'll wait," Dawn said while we all (except me) nodded.

I groaned and crossed my arms. "Well, okay, he's smart enough to go with," I muttered.

"Would you just pull out whateva's stuck up yo behind, already??" asked Hunter aggrivatedly. I ignored him, turned, and left the building to walk to the Center.

-

Zante led Ash outside to a bench by a pond in the park about ten minutes walking away from the coliseum. "Here's good," he said, and they sat down. "Sorry for the long walk, but it's so nice here." Vesp slithered off of him and onto the ground to let her boyfriend lean back on the bench better.

Ash smiled as he looked at him, turned in the bench with a foot on it. "I understand," he said. "You're a pokémon, so I guess you feel more comfortable outside, right?"

Zante nodded. "Yeah, I am," he confirmed. He turned his body to look at Ash better, putting a foot on the bench as well. "Now, Pikachu?" he began.

Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and came in front of him. "Pika?" he responded. "What?"

Zante smiled and looked at Ash with his eyes. "This IS sort of private, so I'm gonna do the old 'hiding in plain sight' technique of using my native tongue. Sorry if you wanted to talk some," he apologized.

Ash smiled disappointedly and put his hand behind his head. "I understand," he said.

Zante nodded and looked back down at Pikachu. "Alright, I just want to ask a few questions," he continued, shifting to his own language.

"Alright," Pikachu said, smiling, "shoot!"

Zante's smile went a bit as he got serious. "How long have those Elite Beat Agents been traveling with you?" he asked.

Pikachu flicked his ears up in surprise. "The Agents?" he asked. "What do you want with them?"

Zante shook his head, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt them," he said.

Pikachu nodded slowly. "Alright...Well, they've been with us for about a month or something," he answered.

"Hmm...Anything strange happen while you're with them?" Zante asked, putting a paw to his chin.

Pikachu chuckled a little. "Well, lots of strange things," he answered. "They have to go out on missions to help people in need."

"Like Travis Monkshood, the werewolf of 'No Sleep Tonight'?"

Pikachu started at this, and Ash raised his eyebrows. "Wh...How'd you...?" Pikachu squeaked. He began feeling uneasy about this guy.

Zante waved his paw. "I'm friends with Travis, don't worry," he assured him. "He told me about the whole thing..." His face went serious again as his brow furrowed. "...including the fight against the demon when it attacked you guys."

Pikachu shuddered at the memory. "Please, don't remind me," he muttered.

"One of the Agents was hurt by it, right?" continued the Pokémon Linguist.

Pikachu nodded. "Sorta. It grabbed Lock at one point--I think right before Travis came and helped us out."

Zante nodded, shifting his weight and crossing his arms. They sank into his stomach a couple centimeters and his long-haired fur a couple inches. "That's the guy that I'm worried about, then, if I'm right? The Agent with the lanyard and keys?" he checked.

"Yeah, that's Agent Lock," Pikachu confirmed.

"Have you noticed anything...strange about him, lately?" Zante asked quietly.

Pikachu flicked his ears up, but drooped them and his head as silent worry came to his heart and mind. "...Yeah," he replied after a moment. "These past few days, he's been acting like a total jerk, and it's been getting worse as time goes on," he described. He looked up. "And...I remember...the first day he started being mean, it was when we were at this hot spring at the ice cap of a mountain. He didn't answer his badge immediately when it beeped, which meant that they were getting a mission. While he talked about ignoring the mission--which turned out to be about helping a ghost say his last words to his fiancée--I thought I saw eyes floating behind him and his body shimmering."

Zante raised his eyebrows before narrowing them and glancing over his shoulder at Vesp, who looked serious. They nodded, and he turned back. "What else?" Zante asked.

Pikachu continued, "Well, he got back to normal after being ping-ponged between Agents Meyers and Hunter. He didn't seem to even remember it afterwards. He was fine for a couple days afterwards, but he got it really badly again by the time we got to the city of Riverhelm."

"Riverhelm? Wasn't that city attacked by a giant pokémon?" Vesp couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, and it was the Agents' job to help a rookie cop stop it," Pikachu said, smiling and nodding. "It was really crazy and scary with all the people, but it was cool at the same time. Not only that, they were sort of teamed up with a shiny charizard that could talk like you. He could play trumpet, too!"

Zante let out a surprised laugh. "Ze-hah! I didn't even know scaly lips could work with brasswinds!!" he said.

"Well, they do, and he did it really well, too," Pikachu went on. "In fact, it was because of his playing on the street that Lock was snapped out of it that time. I think he was about to hit someone...and his body was shimmering worse, and I doubted it was the hot day making hot air. There was also more to the eyes, I think, or they were bigger...It was scary." He shivered. "He was nice again a bit longer, though."

Zante nodded, serious-faced again. He shifted around to have both feet on the bench, arms crossed. His mouth would've been hidden by his bulk to Pikachu's view if it were flat against his face like a human's. "I see. And so yesterday would be the next time he started to weird up like that? Or was there another time before?"

Pikachu nodded his head. "Yeah, yesterday was the next time," he confirmed. "I...I'm really worried. I remember I was looking up at him in the stands when he was looking at a short vendor and I saw him shimmering again, and the eyes..." He shuddered and lowered his head.

"That'd be when he was being asked to pay for the hot dog with everything on it...to Meowth of Team Rocket as they tried their successful stint as concessions vendors," Zante described. "I saw it, too. Those fiery eyes were freaky. He calmed down a bit later after he ate the hot dog more and watched the match."

"And just now, when we were in the lobby and he was yelling at you, I saw the eyes, too," Pikachu continued, looking up. His eyes looked a little moist. "And he's been shimmering all day, acting mean or angry or not."

Zante nodded.

"...Is that why we're here?" Pikachu asked, tilting his head. "To be away from him?"

"Yup." Zante sighed and drummed his claws on his paunch. "...Pikachu. You can feel it, too, right?" he asked. He looked up to the sky. "Things are starting to get uneasy all around. Shaky."

Pikachu nodded, looking out across the pond. "I know," he said quietly. "It's like a more spread-out version of Lock when he's simmering."

"Interesting description," Zante muttered.

"How is Lock tied into this? Why is he? Why him?" Pikachu asked, looking back at him. "I really like Lock when he's nice, but..."

Zante looked back down and held a claw up from resting his paw on his gut. "I know...but I don't know exactly what's the deal," he replied.

"All we know is that we should avoid angering him," Vesp told him.

"Pikachu," Zante said, raising his head a bit. "Stay nearby Ash at all times and away from Lock. Be ready to intervene if you see him getting angry at one of the Ouendan or Travis when they try talking to him."

"Ouendan?" Pikachu repeated. "Were they the ones who helped out Team Rocket these past two days?"

"Yeah," Zante confirmed, smirking and nodding. "They're pretty kick-ass." 'Dunno about their leader, though,' he added to himself, looking up with a classic zangoose frown. He shook his head and continued, smiling. "Well, anyway, Kioshi, their lead, mentioned cheering on Charizard--as in Ash's."

Pikachu raised his eyebrows impressedly. "Wow, Charizard's a popular guy," he stated. "The talking shiny charizard, Charlie, said he met him, too, I think." He started as he remembered something else. 'Hey! They must be the guys that Charizard was talking about! They've got to be good! But...' He furrowed his brow as he wondered, 'Why would Charizard ever cry for help? I mean, he must have had to if the Ouendan work like the Agents and come when someone yells out. He's way proud, though...'

Zante raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Interesting," he said. He then thought for a moment. "...Alright. I think that's it. Just remember to beware Lock," he said, standing up and stretching.

"Right," Pikachu nodded.

Ash stood up as well. "Are you finished?" he asked.

"Yeah," Zante said in Human, looking at him. Vesp slithered up and wrapped around him again. "We're done. Pikachu's very thoughtful--and perceptive." He looked at him, smiling.

Pikachu, hopping up to Ash's shoulder, smiled and nodded.

"Well, I'd better get going. See you!" Zante said, turning and waving.

""Bye!"" called Ash and Pikachu, waving.

*/FLASHBACK!*

(Hibiki looked up at the above few pages. "Yowza...SOMEONE'S still got to learn how to shorten things up.")

Zante, after telling them about everything, looked at everyone seriously. "Lock's obviously being possessed by something, and I'm sure that none of us should approach him without at least a good night's sleep," he said.

Kioshi nodded with his friends. "Right. We've been feeling that weird thing around the world, lately, too," he said. "It's like...something's gonna give." He looked up into the sky as it darkened, turning purple and dark blue. "Yeah. Guys, we're going to the Center and checking in. We'll talk to the Agents tomorrow."

Suzu and Hibiki nodded. Travis did, as well. "Frank, Dorian," he said, looking left and right to each in turn, "I'm sorry that you're all in this, too, but it's too late now. We're seeing the Agents and seeing if we can become official Elite Beat Agents, no matter what!" He gave a resolute smile and clenched a black-backed fist.

Frank sighed. "You're probably gonna make a fool of yourself, so you'll need someone to help you do so," he said.

"And wherever he's going, I'm going, since we need someone to tract him," Dorian said. He got a playful punch for that.

Kioshi looked at everyone. "Well, let's get going," he said, and they went off.

When they got to the Center, they didn't run into Ash and company or the Agents.

We were out for ice cream, Ash having returned a couple minutes ago. I slurped my triple chocolate cone--chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips, and hot fudge ripples--and looked up. Something was amiss. 'Ugh...Great, what NOW?...Bleh, screw it, I'm not even gonna bother...' I went back to slurping.

Pikachu looked at Lock from Ash's shoulder nervously, tension increasing as he saw the demonic eyes faintly floating behind him again. 'Lock...'

- - - - -

"Lock..." Kahn stared at the screen.

"Sir?" Chieftan asked.

"Is there anything we should do?" Foxx wondered.

Kahn sat with his back to them. "...No. There's nothing we can do right now except watch and wait." He turned off the show as the credits rolled by. "Tell our men and women to be prepared for anything--"

"--We're about to witness something big," Doumeki Kai told Ryuta and Anna in the dojo. "Also, tell everyone to get ready, because we're meeting with our overseas counterparts again."

""Understood,"" went each pair of man and woman before each were dismissed.

Both of the leaders looked at their now-blank screens, looking serious and worried. Kai crossed his arms across his chest, Kahn steepled his fingers and sank his face down behind them.

"Kioshi..."

"Lock..."

- - - - -

Okay, you can open fire on me for the chapter length...n--


	28. RISE

(28)_*_*_( ) (One) (Last) (Time)

-NOTE: Be prepared to flip back to old chapters for character recollections.-

SLAM! "I'm home!"

"Said Ms. Obvious."

"You're no fun." Lock's little sister dashed right to the television, brow sweaty and hair sticking from biking home. It was uncomfortably hot and dry, even for summer. In fact, it hadn't rained at all in their world since the episode before No Sleep Tonight. She plopped her helmet on the middle couch cushion next to her as she jumped, turned, and landed on her butt at the end while grabbing the remote. She turned it on and saw Cartoon Network was still there, to her relief. Tom and Jerry were currently performing their good old antics.

Her mom sighed, looking over with a sad smile from across the breakfast bar. She was drying a dish in her hand. "Milly, it's not time yet, you know that," she said a little annoyedly (but not meanly-you know how parents are). "Turn it off, please...I don't want to deal with that right now."

Milly looked up at her with pouty eyes. "But you and I BOTH know that anything could happen," she defended. "Who knows? Maybe it'll come on. It IS live."

"I TOLD you-his boss told me that reality travels differently than the Pokémon show's world," their mother objected, putting the plate away and turning to the sink, television not visible to her from behind the wall. "We see whatever is happening to your brother in their real time each time a new episode comes on." She picked up a wet plate and rubbed her rag across it.

"But..." Milly sighed and picked up the remote again, letting it tilt back and forth on her finger as she gently played with it. "...Not every episode happens the same amount of time afterwards...which means he could be getting hurt right now..." she muttered.

"I'm more worried than you are, Milly," her mother said a bit gentler, frowning slightly, putting away the dish. "It's not easy seeing your son get possessed, somehow, and act like a completely different person."

Milly sighed as the cartoon ended. "...Will he be okay, Mom?" she asked.

Her mother didn't answer, picking up the last dish and starting to let her cloth leech away the moisture on it.

Milly frowned and looked at the television as another Tom and Jerry was announced for next-after the commercial. "...What about...Pokémon...?" she asked.

Her mother sighed, pausing the drying for a moment. "...I don't know. It's a show. A frighteningly real show, but...I don't know," she answered. "Maybe...it'll all be reset to before this mess." She resumed her work.

"...I hope so," Milly agreed, nodding. Then, the clock chimed. 3:30 P.M., on the dot. "...I'll be back down in three-" "hours" is how she wanted to finish, pointing the remote with finger on the power button, but when something that wasn't Tom and Jerry came on, she stopped dead, eyes wide. "...Huh?" she instead said, quite loudly. She then gasped. "MOM!"

Her mother jumped at the sound, dropping the plate. She squeaked, dove, and started juggling the stoneware before, making her saving throw, catching it. She sighed in relief and put it away before, grumbling, stomping over to shout at her daughter, hands on hips. "WHAT?" she asked. But she only had to follow Milly's pointing finger to the screen to locate her answer.

Kioshi's foot twitched about, fidgeting. He was sitting with one leg crossed over another, occupying an end of the sofa in the Pokémon Center. Along with him were the others from their recently-extended group, each doing different things while they waited. Outside the windows were lights and streamers. Kioshi's face was in a frown, arms crossed.

Travis grunted and stretched his arms, sitting in a window seat, then dropped them while turning to look out. "Who'da thunk it?" he asked. "The tournament's traditionally the start of a festival that's been going on for ages, celebrating the bond between man and 'mon." He flicked his tail-he'd been in wolf form for the last couple of hours, probably; it was hard to tell for the audience. Nurse Joy was probably used to it by now. She was the only one to worry about right now, since the only people in the lobby were the cheer squads and their pokémon friends.

"Yeah," nodded a corner-sitting Zante, smiling and skritching a spot on a purring Vesp's head while she wrapped about his ample middle. "It's supposed to go on all night tonight, ending with a special silly-and-serious award ceremony for each of the finalists in the tournament, which should be happening soon." He looked up at a wall clock. It displayed 11:00. "...Yeah, about an hour away."

Kioshi growled and stamped his foot down, making everyone look at him. "So of course Ash is still out, being a finalist in the tournament," he said tartly. "So we've been sitting here for over four hours for nothing!" He stood up and strode to the door.

"Where're you going, Kioshi?" asked Suzu, wiping her visible eye. She had just woken up, as had all the other humans besides Kioshi.

"I'm going out to find the Agents and ask our question, already," Kioshi answered over his shoulder before opening the door and entering the humid summer night.

The others raised their eyebrows (Vesp was still purring in bliss, so no eyeridge-raise from her) at this before Suzu and Hibiki scrambled to get up and follow him. "W-Wait, Kioshi! You know that it could be dangerous!" Hibiki called.

"So you guys stay here," instructed Suzu, turning and running almost entirely backwards. She spoke to Dragonair, Teddiursa, and Croconaw, who were all awake, now, and ready to follow their friends. She, then her fellow Bluendan member, exited the Center.

Frank turned his head from this, shrugging. "We'll hold down the fort, I guess," he yawned. He pulled down his hat over his eyes and resumed sleeping on a love seat.

"Should we...?" asked Dorian, who was sitting across from Travis at the table they were in. He'd been sleeping with his head on the surface, glasses comically askew.

Travis shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "Besides, I don't think people would react well to me," he added, grinning sheepishly and ending up grinning wolfishly while he motioned to himself.

Being groggy made Dorian's half-eyeing easier than normal. "Just change back. It's a NEW moon out, so why are you even...?" he grumbled flatly. Travis gave his best J. Talbain taunt (smiling mischievously and waggling a finger) and Dorian emitted a chuckle.

"You never know," he said. He dropped the smile and looked out at the busy streets. "...You never know..."

Noise! Laughing. Singing. Happy conversation. I wanted to rip my eardrums out and stomp on them. But that would have to come AFTER I was finished kicking everyone's butts. I smirked and slapped down my hand. "ROYAL FLUSH!" I roared, grinning.

Meyers and Hunter groaned and tossed their hands in the air, cards flying away. ""Fold,"" they submitted, rolling their heads and eyes to opposite sides.

"Awright, gimmie," I said, reaching for the small pile of Pokédollar coins we were gambling with. "My prize for my fantastic luck!" I grinned wider and shoved it all into my wallet, which, to my chagrin, wouldn't close afterwards. I lifted it up and held it, looking at it. "Huh."

"Guess ya need a change purse, huh?" joked Hunter, chuckling and resting an arm on the table.

I growled and whipped my head at him. "Guys don't carry purses!" I spat. "What, you think I'm a fruit or something?"

"No, we think you're a nut," Meyers answered from under the table. He was picking up the cards before they blew away. (See, we were playing at a café and were sitting around one of the outdoor tables.)

I was about to rebuke him when I decided not to waste my energy. I shook my head and looked around. "When can we go back to the Center?" I asked, annoyed.

"After they do this awards show thing," replied Meyers, coming back up and gathering up the rest of the cards into a deck. Tunk-tunk went the slips of lightly laminated paper as he put them together. "Till then, I think it's time to stop. The cameras might be on and the Agency'll be held for promoting gambling in front of kids," he advised. "Remember, we're in the place where they changed 'gambler' to 'gamer'."

"You just don't wanna lose the rest of your dough," I taunted, smirking smugly and pointing at him. I put my wallet into my backpack beside me. I groaned and leaned back in my chair, hands behind my head. "This is BORRR-iiiing," I sang-complained.

"You're acting like a KIII-iiiid," Hunter imitated, frowning. "AND, you said that it'd be fun to go to a huge party like this."

"Festival, really," corrected Brock as he came over. He smiled and leaned on the railing separating our table from the brick mosiac streets. "You guys doing alright?" he asked.

"I know I am!" I crowed, grin on my face.

"He's been cleaning us out," Meyers explained, thumbing to me. "I never knew he'd be so good at poker."

"Poker? For actual money?" Brock asked, surprised and raising his eyebrows. "You're not supposed to GAMBLE, are you?"

This got me steaming. Chair legs hitting the ground loudly, I leaned forwards before getting up and shouting, "QUIT BEIN' A WUSS!" right in Brock's face. "I'm SICK of everyone's goody-two-shoes attitude around here!" I motioned with my arms around the crowd. "I mean, look! Everyone's SOBER! Not a pickpocket in sight! And not a single soul doing something stupid! Do you guys even know what a party IS?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Brock with my hands on my hips.

Brock grimaced and backed up a bit. "Festival," he corrected again. "And, yeah, we do, but this event is for all ages, so we have to keep it calm," he added. "If it were just adults, there'd be the stuff you're talking about...though..." He turned around and looked about. "...Alright, that last thing you said is starting to bug me, thanks," he admitted, and I barked a laugh.

"There ANY place on this island where people PARTY?" I asked, leaning on the railing.

Brock shrugged. "I dunno," he said as if he'd just realized his ignorance. He sat against the bars and whipped out his handy-dandy guide book. He flipped through it, looking at the section about interesting annual events at towns. He frowned and shook his head, closing it. "Sorry, Lock, but there's nowhere in Sinnoh that might please you," he apologized.

I rolled my eyes. "Figures."

"Actually, though," Brock added, face brightening as he held up a finger, "I remember hearing about this from somewhere. See, there's this place called Nightsky City. It's located in a distant region, but it's got this huge event at the end of the month that's apparantly pretty huge. They've got...refreshments, we'll say, though they make sure nobody gets too wet."

I grumbled. "Wussies, all-a yehs," I growled.

"At least they serve some," Brock pointed out, frowning and closing the book. "Lock, you're being really ornery. What's up?"

I looked sideways at him. "You DON'T want to start," I warned him.

Kioshi looked around, weaving in and out of the people around. It looked like everyone in the coloseum was out there, drinking all kinds of soda, playing carnival games at booths, or talking at a café he passed by. He didn't bother to ask anyone if they'd seen anyone in black suits-that'd only get him some looks. He stood in the center of a plaza, gripping his hair with his gloved hands. The night was hot and humid, and instead of getting cooler, it was only getting warmer-maybe from all the body heat. "Grrrr, this is getting annoying!" he growled. "Something's throwing me off!" He shook his head and turned around a little too sharply. As a result, he crashed right into a young man. "Oof!"

"Waagh!"

Both stumbled back, then anger-veined, took a fist-raised scolding pose, and yelled, ""WATCH WHERE YER GOIN'!"" before Kioshi raised his eyebrows, going, "Huh?" He stood entirely as he beheld who he'd bumped into. "...Are you Satoshi?" he asked, fighting to keep his slight awe down.

The boy nodded. "Yeah," he answered, appearing unfazed that he was called by a different name. "I'm Ash, that's right." He smirked, crossing his arms. "You see me in the finals?" he asked.

Kioshi smiled and bowed. "Forgive me. I shouldn't have turned so fast," he apologized. He came up again. "I'm looking for the Elite Beat Agents, and I heard they were with you," he said. "It's important I ask them something. You know where they are?"

Ash blinked at this. "Huh? The Agents?" he repeated. "Uh..." He looked left, then right, finding no familiar faces in the crowd. He gave a sheepish smile and shrug. "Sorry, but we separated a while ago. They're somewhere around town, though," he answered.

Kioshi sighed, drooping. His ponytail fell and hung from the left side of his neck. "Thank you, anyway, Satoshi," he said, giving a small smile. He raised a hand. "See you in fourty-five minutes, I guess!"

Ash chuckled and held a hand up as well, smiling. "Yeah, see ya," he said, turning and disappearing in the crowd.

At this time, Suzu and Hibiki found him. "Kioshi!" Suzu called, and Kioshi turned to see his partners. "Couldn't you wait for us?" she asked.

"Sorry, but I'm feeling a little on-edge," he alibied, grimacing.

"That's because you've been staying up all night," Hibiki reasoned, smirking.

"No, it's because we're all on-edge," Suzu corrected, giving a curt nod. "Don't pretend you can't feel it. That feeling in the pit of your chest...where we sense..." She put a hand on her bosom.

Kioshi did the same to his. With a frown, he nodded. "Dread," he identified. "Supernaturally strong dread."

"I've got our salt," Hibiki said, producing three shakers in one hand, each being held between two fingers.

Kioshi and Suzu were about to anime fall when they remembered. "Oh, for the demons," Suzu said. "Yeah." She took one and Kioshi took one. "Just in case."

"Well, let's go," Kioshi said, turning around and facing the crowd again.

"But we can't feel their fires!" protested Hibiki. "How can we find them in this mess?"

"The old-fashioned way," Suzu sighed. "It must be related to the dread-it must be blocking him."

"Where's a good place to start, you think, then?" asked Hibiki.

A loud group of shouts caused their heads to turn left. They saw three men in black suits and sunglasses at a milk jug toss game, with the black one pumping his fist in victory, the blonde clapping, and the lanyard-wearer crossing his arms and lifting a nostril. They saw a pair of fiery eyes floating behind him. "There would be good," Kioshi answered, and they dashed over.

"Aww, YEAAH, man!" Hunter danced in victory a little as the man operating the game reset the jugs. "PERFECT shot! Gimmie dat plushie!" he pointed, indicating a life-sized miltank plushie.

I raised my nostril further up. "You're a fan of fat cows?" I asked, disgust in my voice.

Hunter scowled over his shoulder at me. "Watch yo' mouth, dawg," he warned. "We ain't got no need of no double entendres, yannow. Annis is fo' a friend at school," he added, turning to take the plushie with a smile. "She likes miltank, for some reason. I'm a scizor guy, myself." He looked back at us while he added this part, hugging the stuffie to him. It was so big, only his dorky-ass star-shaped shades and above were availible to show of his face, eyes bracketed between the pink cow's horns. He then turned to our left to walk away and let Meyers play next. When he did, he stopped, eyebrows raising as he saw something. "HEL-lo."

"Eh?" I followed his gaze and saw three adolescents running at us. The one in front was in a black outfit that I recognized as a Japanese cheering outfit-part of my orientation for this wretched job-and the ones behind him wore what looked like military dress coats, complete with fancy coat of arms with laurels. "What on...?" I grumbled as they skidded to a halt.

"Agents!" the black-wearing one called as he skidded. While he slowed, his ponytail, which was black with a streak of red for a Shadow-inspired accent-nerd-whipped forth around the left side of his neck. He flicked it back after coming to a halt, wiping his bangs from his eyes as he did so. "Kuso, it's hot out," he muttered.

"'K'so'?" I repeated.

"'Kuso'," corrected Meyers, who was absently pushing Hunter away with one hand while giving his money to the man with the other, yet keeping his eyes on the new folks. "It's a Japanese word expressing a bad mood, like 'darn'."

'Then why didn't he just SAY 'darn'?' I roared in my head, glaring. I didn't like these guys already. "Who are you and why do you know who we are?" I asked with an edge.

The three didn't seem fazed, though the black-haired one grimaced a bit. "We're the Ouendan," he answered. "I'm Kioshi. These are my backups, Hibiki and Suzu," he introduced, pointing first to the slicked white-haired guy and then the fancy-hairstyled blonde girl at their names, then crossing his arms. The two were standing with their arms behind their backs, at ease.

""Good evening,"" they greeted in unison.

I gritted my teeth and bared them in a grimace of my own. "Unison lines are REALLY getting to me," I...gah, is there even a synonym for "growled" at ALL? (...I mean it, is there?)

Kioshi didn't seem to hear me. "We've been told about you by our own leader through...well, I don't quite know EXACTLY how, but not by phone, but he told me about you guys, and we've got to ask you something important," he continued.

"Then ASK, already!" I barked, tapping my foot. "You're wasting my time, here!" Indeed, they were: It was my turn to try the game. Meyers had failed pretty badly. I made a note to make fun of him after I was finished.

Kioshi nodded. "Right. Do you know a way back home?" he asked.

"Home?" I raised an eyebrow. "What, I'm sorry, I never got the memo it was my turn to watch some Jap weirdo for his mommy today," I bit out.

"YO!"

"'EY!"

(Back home, Mom shouted my real name in the same tone of angry disgust as my backups.)

I blocked both attacks-an elbow from Hunter and a swat from Meyers. I wasn't able to counter, sadly, since I had to deal with Kioshi.

Kioshi anger-veined, and I felt a powerful energy from him. I knew what it was and knew that I wanted AWAY from him. He didn't make any other motion to signify he heard my remark. "You know the home I mean. OUR home. Yours as well as mine."

I raised my eyebrows. "You mean..." I narrowed them again. "Ah, yeah, you're from Evening Town and the Bluendan are from Morning Town back in Japan, aren't you?" I asked. "Never knew they were recruiting high school cheer squad dropouts." More protests, more blocking.

"You're the rudest American I've ever met," Suzu said in disgust, glaring. "You're not giving a good impression of your team."

I scoffed. "Really?" I asked. "I'd say I'm doing as good a job as any!" I shook my head, then decided to just answer them. "Well, sorry, bubs, but we've got nuttin'."

"We haven't gotten anything on the portal that EBA HQ is building us from our badges since Riverhelm," Meyers added. I shot him a glare, which caused him and his eyebrows to jump a bit for some reason.

"Por...oh, yeah," Hibiki said, looking up in thought. "That'd make sense. We came in through a portal, so we go out through a portal."

"We've got the thing runnin', but they need some time to work outta few kinks 'fore we can get home," Hunter described, unable to catch my glare.

"Shut it, I'm speaking to them," I said firmly. I turned back to them. "So? Go away. You asked your question."

Kioshi narrowed his eyebrows. "Well, I was just going to say that we're going to have to stick with you until the portal is ready," he said with a bit of stone, patience wearing thin (finally).

"STICK WITH US?" I repeated, jerking back. I seethed and shouted, "If you really want to get home, then just do your Land of the Rising Sun magic and ninja vanish outta here! You just want to stick around with all of these losers around here!" I held out my arms to express everyone around me.

Kioshi looked at Lock, sweatdropping a little. 'His fire is rising, but it's not the kind of fire we use,' he noticed. The eyes behind the Agent were glowing hotter.

I let my hands flop down into fists. "I'm SICK and TIRED of this fuckin' place! The sooner that portal gets fixed, the better. Besides, why do you want OUR portal? Shouldn't you be safe on the other side of the Pacific where I don't have to deal with you weirdos?" I pointed my finger out. "VAMOOSE! Before I get crankier!"

Kioshi closed his eyes and shook his head. "Something's wrong with you," he said quietly. "Nobody able to be an Agent is like this by nature."

"Oh. But we all are." I said this just as quietly, a small smile curling on my lips. I scowled again quickly and roared, "GO AWAY!"

Kioshi noticed the air shimmering around my body, then shook his head again. "Good night," he bade before turning on his heel. "Ikuze," he said to his flunkies, the word staying the same no matter who was watching where. They walked off into the crowd, happily being swallowed up by it.

I lowered my hand, letting out an angry breath through my nostrils. I turned to the man behind the booth just blinking at us and walked over, slapping down my money. "Gimmie balls," I grunted. He gave me them, looking at me, while my teammates tried to talk to me, berating me. I ignored them, though, choosing to answer with getting a bullzeye on the jug stack without knocking a single one down. Everyone blinked and backed up, the guy running the game doing so in fear, I knew, as they looked at the red-rimmed hole I'd made with the fastball. I glanced left and right at Meyers and Hunter, tossing the softball up and down in my hand.

They shut up.

Joy leaned on the counter while she spoke to Travis, who rested a black and grey furry arm on it and leaned on that, facing her sideways. "You can actually talk to canine pokémon?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Travis answered, nodding sadly.

"HEY!" Yena barked, and Travis and Joy laughed.

SLAM! Joy jumped at the door almost breaking from the force Kioshi opened it with. He stepped through, looking serious like he was doing a cheer, with his friends doing the same behind him. He stopped and looked around the room, settling on Travis. "How well can you take hits?" he asked him calmly.

Travis blinked. "Uuuuh...pretty well, I guess, if I block," he replied. "Why?"

Suzu went over to Zante, who was in a chair, reading, Vesp curled up next to him on the floor. Hibiki examined a recliner. Kioshi sighed, motioning to this all.

Travis blinked again after this, then sighed, smiling. "Aroo...I think I get it," he said, and he braced himself, holding his forearms up in a crossing pose. "You sure me, though? I'm not exactly the softest thing in the world..."

Kioshi didn't care. After nodding to the others, they all set to work hammering lightning-fast punches, alternating arms, at their targets for a full ten seconds, growling and half-roaring from between gritted teeth. Abruptly, they stopped, panting slightly. Angry fire could be seen flickering around them from the tv audience and any pokémon or high-spirited humans in the immediate audience.

Travis turned his arms to him and raised his eyebrows. "I swear, I can see bruises beneath my fur," he said facetiously. "Seriously, OW." He massaged them, grimacing slightly.

"Lemme see," Joy said, holding a hand out and accepting the forearms to examine. Kioshi looked at the others.

Zante blinked as, slowly, the pit that had reached to his tensed stomach muscles popped back out, the midway-to-blubber-density fat pushing the belly back into shape. "And I thought Vesp left some indents," he muttered as Suzu sat down next to him.

Hibiki frowned and shook the back cushion of the chair like he was fluffing a pillow, trying to get rid of his own mark.

Frank, having been awoken by the door's slam, looked at all of this. "You guys need to carry around a punching bag when you're venting," he grumbled before going back to sleep.

"You guys DO know that catharsis is actually not good for you, right?" asked Dorian from his table, adjusting his glasses. "It only makes you angrier."

Suzu turned and glared at him. "Well, it sure as hell feels good somewhere up there," she replied. "...Where'd you pick that up, by the way?"

Dorian nonchalantly whipped out a battered-covered textbook from his backpack. "AP PSYCH" was printed on it in English. Suzu sighed and hung her head as a substitute to an anime fall at the fact he carries a textbook around with him.

Kioshi groan-sighed and flopped down on the sofa the episode started on, bouncing a bit. "Travis, you DON'T want to meet the Agents right now," he said, hand over eyes.

"This doesn't look good," the werewolf muttered, frowning in interest over his shoulder.

"You might want to lay off these for a while," advised Joy, letting go of the forearms. "Kioshi bruised you almost to the bone."

"Wow." Travis walked over and sat on the sofa next to Kioshi, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his paws droop down between his legs. "How'd you learn to punch like that?" he asked.

"That's what I was gonna ask," Yena said in Human, coming over and sitting on the floor next to his fellow wolf.

Kioshi looked over at the werewolf, turning his head and leaving his hand to hold the side of it. "When you're an Ouendan member, you have to be able to straight one-two punch like a jackhammer," he answered wryly. His teammates chuckled in agreement.

Travis smiled a bit. "Heh. So...what happened?" he asked.

"Agent Lock, that's what," Suzu seethed, crossing her arms. "I swear, if I wasn't afraid he'd rip me a new one with that thing behind him, I would have taught him a lesson he'll never forget."

"Lock?" Joy repeated, causing everyone to turn to her. "You mean the Agent with the house keys on a lanyard?" Grim nods. She smiled sympathetically. "I don't blame you," she said. "I'm sorry to say, but he's not the nicest of young men. Something about him makes me feel warm in the angry way, even if he's just standing close to me..." She bowed her head and put her hand on her chin. "...I don't know why, though..." she added softly.

"Possessed," Travis answered, looking a bit serious for once tonight. "I wasn't kidding about that story about my folks, Nurse Joy. I think he's getting possessed by something that's making him act evily." He looked out the window.

Kioshi had lowered his head to rest it in his hands, rubbing his hair. Suddenly, he, along with the other Ouendan, froze, wide-eyed. "Holy..."

Travis could feel it, too, and it caused Dorian, who had given up on sleeping for the moment, to instantly feel wide-awake, own eyes magnifying behind his glasses. Frank merely snorted and snored on. However, Travis made no sign. He just looked thoughtfully out at the people outside, the back of his head being all that the camera could see.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

"...They're not answering," Kahn muttered. He sat in his chair, adopting his usual steepled-fingers pose, looking at the monitors forming one giant screen for the surprise episode. "Is Lock forbidding them without forbidding them...?" He shook his head. 'At least the others can feel it...' He surpressed a gulp. 'This is it,' he thought, grimacing and narrowing his eyebrows slightly. 'Heaven help them...'

Night filled the sky over the coliseum. Clouds filled the night. But rain didn't fill the clouds, as dark they were. Light from below in the city was polluting the sky, blotting out stars. Various sounds could be heard as the festival went underway. Among them was the sound of the narrator's voice, unheard for many episodes.

_"Every year in the city of Wharfton, a massive battle tournament is held,"_ he began. _"The Wharfton Cup, as it is called, draws people for miles, from all regions, for the chance to watch some of the most intense battles ever, all for the coveted Wharfton Badge. This badge is recognized by the Sinnoh League, and thus gives trainers the chance to skip a gym battle to get to the League. But this is not the only or most important reason it exists."_

Liza walked along, smiling as she ate a dumpling. Behind her walked Charla and Charizard, the latter of whom was blushing ever so slightly.

_"It also begins the annual Empathy Festival,"_ continued the narrator.

Charizard heard someone to the side and looked. He smiled as he saw who and waved. Charlie, standing with his two bandmate friends, waved back, grinning, then turned around again as he blew his trumpet in trio to a small crowd's delight.

Nearby stood Abe, leaning against a lying-down Elodie's shoulder and smiling fondly at her, her returning the face while allowing children to use the slopes, ridges, and bumps of her body as a playground in the middle of a large plaza. "A festival celebrating the bond between man and pokémon...fitting for a date, huh?" Abe asked, and Elodie rumbled a chuckle.

"Go back to your job, sweetie," she said, nudging his butt gently with her snout. He laughed and went.

_"Yes, the bond between people and pokémon-seen by some as the perfect relationship-and, as a result, humanity's coexistence with nature,"_ the narrator went on.

"Hurry, you slowpokes! They're about to hand out the cool awards!" Takishi called, beckoning behind him as he ran.

Kagome and the other brothers smiled and chuckled as they walked after. "Hold your horses, Takishi," Kagome called gently.

Marin walked through the crowd, fanning herself with a white-clothed fan and wearing an uneasy look under her sunhat. "I thought Sinnoh was supposed to be cooler..." she mumbled.

The narrator pressed on, _"Many festivities are held through the night after the Cup ends to the next. On the first midnight, the eight finalists in the Wharfton Cup are each given a special award-one of which being held in higher regard than the Wharfton Badge."_

POP! Benishirina's yellow dart burst a balloon of its opposite color, to his smirking delight. "Yes!"

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet all clapped, wearing the outfits that the balloon darts booth people wore. "Good shot!" James complimented.

"That wins you a mid-sized prize!" Jessie chimed, wearing her best smile.

"So, whaddaya wanna get?" Meowth asked.

"That one," Benishirina pointed, indicating a teddy bear-sized smoochum doll. He recieved it and turned to Luna, who was standing there, blushing.

"Oh, you," she said, getting it. She then blinked at Team Rocket before raising an eyebrow and saying, "You guys look familiar," a little suspiciously.

TR sweatdropped and shook their heads, denying it.

_"These awards are given for unique accomplishments, general feats of note, and best-ofs,"_ the narrator explained.

In the crowd gathering around the center of the main plaza, Nozomi went to stand with her children and Masa, smiling at them while they looked up. In little Aiko's hand was a spinda head balloon, while Ryuichi held nothing. He grinned up to his mother. "Those were some great battles those people up there had, weren't they?" he asked.

"That they were," agreed Nozomi.

Flying high above the crowd were Rosa, Jin, and a slightly reluctant Hiromo, soaring atop Pidgeot. They looked down at the festivities with wonder and eagerness. "Ah!" Rosa said, pointing to the crowd below. "That's the awards! Pidgeot, land on a building nearby so we can get a good view!" The great bird gave an affirmative, deep chirp, and banked to the closest building to perch.

_"Each award has been decided on by a panel of judges, so that only one could win each award. A consolation award is given to any ties or overlaps. One award is for Best Gamble, for the trainer who took the riskiest move and succeeded. One is for Greatest Effort, for the trainer who tried the hardest but still lost. One is for Most Contest-like Battler, for the trainer whose battles were the flashiest. One is for Smartest Battler, for the trainer who used the best strategy,"_ listed the narrator.

Kelly frowned as she looked upwards. "It looks like rain," she said after swallowing a mouthful of a caramel apple she was eating, "but...it doesn't FEEL like it..."

Behind her, Sooteye the snorlax was being restrained, with difficulty, by the leader and right- and left-hand boys of the Street Blazers. He was reaching hungrily for a huge platter of fruit that someone was selling food from for people.

The finalists stood in a line, side by side, as the blue-suited mayor of Wharfton walked along, giving them unique medals.

_"One is for Best Battle, a unique consolation award given to both participants of the battle, for the trainers of the battle that wowed the audience and judges in its so-called 'epicness'. One is for Funniest Moment, for the trainer whose pokémon fell victim the most to the most hilarious incedent on the field. One is for something unique that occured in a battle that year; this year's award was for Best Synchronized Victory Dance, given to the trainer who, with his pokémon, had the best winning jig-together. And one is for the trainer who won humbly, lost gracefully, and respected the actions of both sides: Best Sportsmanship,"_ the narrator ended the list, having listed them while the crowd politely clapped for each award being handed out.

"But the greatest prize of all in this tournament," the mayor said, standing next to the last of the finalists, "is the final award. Given to the trainer who most embodies this festival's subject of celebration, it is a mark of a great trainer-and person."

Amongst the crowd were Agents Lock, Meyers, and Hunter. Lock was still shimmering, but otherwise appeared to have calmed. He was crossing his arms and slouching, fidgeting. "C'mon, get on with it," he muttered.

The mayor smiled and held up a gold medal on a 7-color-rainbow ribbon. The medal bore a pokéball symbol on the back, with the emblem of Wharfton-the dock of the Wharfton Badge-on the lower half while the upper bore the name of the winner and the prize. On the front was a line-etched, very beautiful, fancy heart. On the left side of it was a human hand, and on the right was a pawprint, both circled with a line that went around the outside edge of the heart. "This medal-this award-symbolizes the love shared between human beings and pokémon," the mayor continued. "And it also symbolizes the founding principle of the city of Wharfton: That people should work to create, maintain, and protect this strong relationship, as well as the relationships they can have with one another, so that the world will become a better place."

Lock frowned and stuck out his tounge. "Gimmie a break," he murmured.

The mayor held up the medal in two hands and turned to the trainer. "We humbly bequeath thee with the Empathy Award," he said, then placed it around his neck. The boy stood and smiled as the mayor finished, "Ash Ketchum of Pallat Town in Kanto!"

The crowd-partly literally-roared. Lock rolled his eyes and didn't even halfheartedly clap. Ash just blushed and smiled at everyone after shaking hands with the mayor. As well, symbolized by differently-colored-ribboned mini-medals pinned to his vest, he had won the consolation prizes for Best Battle, Best Sportsmanship and Best Gamble. (They all had pokéball symbols, but each was a different ball. The Best Battle was a Master Ball, Best Sportsmanship was a Heal Ball, and Best Gamble was a simple pokéball.)

Part of the literal roaring came from Charizard. Ash turned his head before breaking into a smile and waving. "Charizard!" he called to the flying orange creature a way away. He jumped off-stage-which was okay, since the ceremony had ended, anyway-and into a space cleared by the crowd for both to land.

_"Tonight,"_ the narrator said while this went on, _"during this year's Festival, there will be more than relationships that will be needing protected as an inaudible hum of uneasiness saturates the humid air this hot summer night."_ And he was silent.

Lock grinned as he saw Charizard, too, actually. He laughed loudly when, as traditional, Ash got turned to his US dub namesake by his pokémon as a greeting. Charizard landed from his flight with a smile on. Ash shook the soot off and did his Ash smile at Charizard. "It's great to see you, again, Charizard!" he greeted. "How're you doing?"

Before the fire-tailed lizard could respond, Lock came from the crowd and said, "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite character, Charizard!" Charizard turned and looked, confused at first by the favorite character bit. Then, he stopped, eyes wide.

"What...the...heck...?" he muttered in his language, subtitles again appearing on the bottom of the screen, while he saw the eyes behind Lock and his shimmering field.

Lock grinned, putting a hand on his hip. "You know, I've always liked it when you flame Ash like that," he went on. "You're pretty cool! Strong, big, and wise enough to put annoying kids in their place." He smirked at Ash, who anger-veined.

_Poom._

Lock and Ash turned to look as they heard the sound. Charizard had taken a step back from Lock, fists clenched and eyes locked on the ones behind Lock. Ash frowned in concern at this-Charizard's never really been AFRAID of anyone! He looked around; only people. "What is it, Charizard?" he asked, coming over. He was so concerned, he barely noticed a happy Pikachu hopping over. Some other people watched on. Included in the crowd behind Ash, background people to the camera's view, were Erin, Paul, and Eliza of the Rosevale Rhydons. As well, Brock and Dawn were approaching, being the people whom Pikachu had jumped from to get to his friend.

Charizard pointed his middle claw, first somewhat up and third curled, at Lock. "Behind him..." he muttered.

Lock widened his eyes as shock came through him. "You...don't want to...be...near me...?" he whispered in horror.

"Huh?" Brett stopped, hard worked-for girlfriend stopping as well. They were passing by a tv shop in California. The screens were tuning in to Cartoon Network. "Hey, isn't that...?"

"AAAH! WHAT THE-!" Kojiro reeled back in his chair at Ryuryu Interactive in Japan as his screen suddenly went from code to cartoons. "...Good thing I have it on auto-save..." he muttered. "Is this some joke?"

People in Times Square looked up and around as the television monitors all about the intersection changed, one by one, to Pokémon.

All the other screens at EBA HQ were changing to the show, as well. "What's going on?" Kahn asked, looking left and right. "Is this some sort of überhack?"

Pikachu, sitting on Ash's shoulder, raised his eyebrows. "Lock?" he asked, turning his head. He gasped and tightened his grip on Ash.

"_Mmm!_ Pikachu, careful," Ash admonished, looking to the shoulder the rodent perched on. As he did, he saw Lock and raised his eyebrows. "Lock?"

Lock was standing with feet spread apart. His fists were at his sides, shaking. His head was bowed down, hiding his face. "What? Am I too sophisticated-looking for you, you overgrown country hick?" he asked in a calm voice. Behind him, unseen, the eyes blazed up more. "So much you don't want to be near me?"

Charizard took another step back, sweatdropping a bit. "Erm...you're on fire..." he muttered.

Lock, apparantly, understood this. "Oh, I'm on fire, huh?" he asked, cocking his head. "I'm not surprised. You see...I dunno if anyone else can see, but...quite frankly..." He clenched his fists tighter. "I...am about ready..."

He whipped his head up, revealing red dots burning in the centers of his shades. "...to **EXPLODE!**" he shouted.

Ash stumbled back, seeing the red eyes. "L-LOCK! What the-?" he cried.

"Lock!"

"What's going on?"

Meyers and Hunter ran forward to get to him, but suddenly, a brief flame wall pushed them back with a grunt, as well as some other people.

People finally began to see Lock's outline shimmering and the eyes, slowly fading in as they got hotter. "I've HAD it with this place!" Lock raged. His voice had taken on another quality-as if he were half speaking through a dark voice changer. "It's so damn FAKE, it's SICKENING! Where's the pain? The violence? The COMPETENT-" here, he glanced over at Team Rocket in their booth, "-crime?"

Team Rocket anger-veined and retorted, """HEY!""" at this. They were answered with a large, frightening blast of black-outlined, blood-red fire. They screamed and dove out of the way, barely managing to escape before the balloon darts booth exploded.

People were now giving Lock a wide berth, as well as clamoring. "What's up with those eyes?" cried someone nearby Cecil and his girlfriend.

"Mommy, what's happening?" Aiko asked, crying while tugging Nozomi's apron.

"Woo! Glad we're up here," Rosa said, shakily smiling over at Jin and Hiromi, all of whom were holding binoculars. They bore scared expressions as they nodded. Pidgeot was freaked-blue-foreheading from the display of power.

Lock stood, encompassed by black-outlined flames. He was holding his mic, which was appearing through more flames that diminished. "This whole damn world is POINTLESS!" he continued. "I can't believe I ever LIKED this show! It's bona-fide G.A.Y.!"

"LOCK!" Ash cried, holding his hands up in front of him, expression both cautious and assertive. "STOP!"

Lock ignored him and turned around, looking at everyone. "You know what I say this world needs? It doesn't need some stupid relationship crap! It doesn't need everyone being all hunky-dory all the time! It doesn't need CRAP! I'm SICK of all this KIDDIE SHIT! What this place needs..." He crouched down.

The ground started to rumble. People were beginning to panic. Abe gritted his teeth and shouted, "EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" while drawing his pistol.

Cracks formed on the ground, seeping out rays of sinister-looking red-orange light. Then, Lock thrust up, extending his body skyward, fiery mic highest. "...is CHAOS!" he roared, body flaring in a blast of fire.

**KRRAABAAAAM!** It looked as if hell had unleashed a hoarde of its denizens upon the world, starting with Wharfton. The ground exploded, sending up debris and thousands of demons. Will-o-whisps, more of the demon-men that Travis had seen on two different occasions, and scads of smaller versions of those things. They ran around, razing everything about. People screamed and ran. The whole of the land was illuminated as if in a burning building.

Then, some people were shot with a white beam bordered by fire. When it faded, they were, as well, and lying on the ground, faces subdued and hopeless.

"SALT!" Brock cried, reaching into his backpack. "THEY'RE VULNERABLE TO SALT!"

Lock laughed. "You HONESTLY think there's enough salt in the entire WORLD to take these guys all out?" he sneered at the breeder.

"The world?" repeated Marin, who was brave enough to stay near there.

"Right-o," Lock confirmed. The camera came in as if going over him, blackening all the world around his face. It stopped with his shades, the only things showing of him, while scenes from around the Pokémon world were seen.

"From Kanto..." A shot of Saffron City in chaos, the Silph Co. building in black-bordered flames.

"...to Johto..." A scene of Goldenrod City in disarray, the trains pushed over in the station.

"...to Hoenn..." A picture of Slateport City in pandemoneum, the shops in the bazaar in shambles.

"...to Orre..." A vision of Phenac City in distress, the water replaced with what looked like lava.

"...to Sinnoh..." A sight of Snowpoint City in turmoil, the whole place entrenched in a snowstorm.

"...and beyond!" A view of a city, somewhere, half in darkness. A large, barely perceptable figure in a cloak lay unconcious in the shadow of an alleyway, lying atop bags of garbage. A long tail could be seen coming from it.

The camera switched back to Lock. "These guys are here to bring about a new world order," he said. "And they're doin' it just the way I like it!"

Meyers and Hunter stepped back. "Lock..." Meyers said quietly, grimacing.

"Yo, man, he's gone," Hunter told him, face the same. "We's on our own!"

"And there's nothing anyone can do about it."

Everyone turned to face the voice. It was deep, dark, smooth, rich. And it came from a fierce, large-horned, black-and-red-cloaked demon the size of a building. It had three sets of arms, a huge pair of wicked wings, and actual feet, though these were angular as well, and only had three toes. They resembled an aerodactyl's or a bird's feet in shape. It had eyes like any other demon. Its five tails bore spikes all the way down, looking like thorny, squirming arrows. As it floated above the ground, unburning fire forming a circle beneath it, it boomed, "We have come, Agents, feeble humans of this world. You have one of your own to thank for it, actually. I am Master, the leader of my wonderful tribe of demons, the Hatemongers." He took a very polite and graceful bow, rotating all three right arms before pressing them to his grand chest, all three left coming out. Then, as he rose, he fired a blast of that white, fire-rimmed light at a crowd, causing many to fly away. "And we are here to take hold before we perish from the sickening lack of conflict here!" he roared, shaking the ground.

Lock smirked and turned around to everyone. "To take a line from Shrek, this is the part where you run away," he said.

Everyone did run.

"HURRY! TO MT. CORONET!" shouted Abe, beckoning. "IT WILL BE GREAT COVER!"

Thankfully, the town was built near the foot of Mt. Coronet, the massive range stretching across half of Sinnoh. Everyone ran off, dodging attacks.

"SQUIRM! **WHA-HAAA!**" Lock cried as he, aided by demonic might, flew around and shot balls of black and fire at people, as well as the strange beams.

"Submit to the sorrow within, and all will be easier for you," ordered Master as he fired the strange beam again.

As it happened, all of the people the Agents and Ouendan had cheered on had come into the same crowd. They were almost there, to Mt. Coronet. Then, the beam that Master fired hit behind them, making them fly off and unleash an agonized cry of desperation,

**"UUWWAAAAAAAUUUGGHH!"**

Kahn stood up, teeth gritted. "FOXX!" he barked. "**NOW!** WE NEED TO GET IN THERE AND SAVE THESE POOR PEOPLE!"

"Right!" Foxx pressed a few keys on her computer on the floor.

"Are you certain this will work?" asked Kai, walking over to Kahn, arms crossed. "Can we all get there in time?"

Kahn looked back over his shoulder at the people in the briefing room. Every Agent and Ouendan, both cities, were assembled there. "We have to," he said. "Otherwise, who knows what will happen?"

"...Lock, you handle them," Master's voice came on the screen, redirected Kahn's attention. "Keep cornering them."

"Yes, Master!" Lock affirmed, sounding as if he'd just taken an order from Kahn (which made him twitch).

"Good. Now, people of this world, run. Run, for I love seeing how futile your actions are! You think that someone will help you? Why help you? It's pointless! Do it yourself!" The demon laughed, which sounded like flames blasting apart heavy objects. "After all, that's what we did when we wanted to enter this world. Distress...the key to unlocking the final gate to our world!"

The camera changed to a shot of Master as he floated along, looming over the burning city while crowds ran beneath. All his arms were crossed. He narrowed his eyes as if smiling evilly. "Heh. Run. And I'm not talking just to you down there..." He looked up. Right into the camera. "You, too. Go ahead..."

_CLICK!_

_CLANK!_

_TICK!_

_CLUNK!_

_SNAP!_

People around the world whipped around to find every door and window lock themselves at once, a crackling violet energy fading from the mechanisms. People indoors were locked in while people outside were locked out.

_The entire planet was trapped._

Milly gasped and held her mother as if she were younger than her real 13 years of age. "Mommy?"

Her mom was gazing at the screen, horror on her face. "...Greg...No..."

"...I _DARE_ YOU!" Master continued, then laughed again. "Oh, yes, I can see you. Not all the millions of hopefully scared shitless faces, but you, Elite Beat Agents, Ouendan!"

Kahn realized then, as well, that all the different screens were broadcasting the show in different languages. "What the...the HELL?" he asked, then sucked in his breath as he heard himself on all the channels as if near the speakers with a (feedback-proof) microphone.

"You hear that? Kahn, the leader of the Agents, you feeble man," Master taunted, "so 'loyal' to his employees that he would put the entire agency through an embarassing order to watch a kids' show daily!"

"How much do YOU care about your coworkers, huh?" roared Chieftan, which was saying something. His angry voice was about as frightening to hear as Master's when he was angry, even mildly.

Master scoffed. "WOOAH, there, cowboy," he jeered. "Nobody cares about ANYONE! Don't you SEE? Bah, I'll get to that later..." He shook his head. "The point is that I'm ecstatic that all of you are convienently in one place. And I have you to thank, as well, Doumeki Kai, for having just as much 'care' for your subordinates," he added, looking over at Kai, who took no steps back at all, but merely let his spiritual flame burn higher. "Cut the bravado, I'm MOSTLY fire," the demon scolded.

"If it were not for the both of you, you would not all be in one room. You, the cheer squad who led Earth to defend itself from a fatal meteorite. You, the agency who led Earth to defend itself from an alien invasion. You, the two squads who led Earth to defend itself from freezing by a burnt-out sun." He chuckled darkly. "Oh, how you've been a thorn in our sides."

All of the television screens (and computer monitors) began to grow a ring of violet, crackly haze-the portal.

The Agents and Ouendan took a step back. "**!**"

Master's eyes began to glow white, bordered by fire. "Now, I want to see YOU, this time, CRY IN DISPAIR!" he laughed, and fired through the television. Thankfully, he was only aiming for the EBA/Ouendan.

Or..._un_thankfully...?

The briefing room was full of bodies lying down on the floor, dispair overcoming their forms. Well, almost. Chieftan grunted as he fought. "N...No..." he grunted weakly. "You...will...not...wi...iinnnn..." Finally, he collapsed, depression like no other seizing his heart with an icy grip.

Master laughed his bone-shivering, evil laugh. The camera zoomed out from his face, where it had been, and it could now be seen that the clouds had changed into thousands of patches of images-the viewers. Countless faces of people being forced to watch looked on from the sky, like ghosts from heaven looking down at hell on Earth.

Going into these images were demons. Coming out were screams.

-:-:-

Everyone gathered around a plateau at Mt. Coronet. They grouped up, trying to stay away from the beasts below climbing up. Many Officer Jennys and other police were on the border, trying to keep order. They all looked hopelessly at one another. "There's no way we can do this," Rose said, frowning, as she looked at her friends and Sooteye and the other skater kids. "Too much..."

"...They destroyed the Agents..." Kelly whispered, falling to her knees and hands.

"...and the Ouendan..." added Benishirina, falling beside, as well, with Luna standing behind him, fist to her mouth in uncertaincy.

Above, viewers were panicking, some being captured. Many were diving out, hoping for the best. To their dismay, they came out from the clouds. (But, to their relief, none were killed-only made very unhappy, dispair beamed or otherwise.) Some landed on the plateau with the crowd. Among them, viewers could see the forms of Rebecca and her friend, Jenny, who both landed in a surprised Elodie's pouch. "?" she went, looking down with blinking eyes as she felt the _fwumph_ of the two falling in.

Standing in the crowd already, rubbing his arm, was Kojiro. "It...It's hopeless..." he grunted, using Japanese with subtitles for any other viewer but still being understood by everyone around.

"What are we going to do?" asked James, who was standing uncertain with his teammates, holding hands with Jessie. (He and Jessie were back in their normal uniforms.) Around them stood more people. Included was a hurting Monkshood family.

"You FIGHT, that's what!"

(-)Instrumental

Every head turned. On the top of a higher spot on the mountain stood a small group. They jumped, sliding down the side, before hitting the plateau. "OSU!" I cried, thrusting my hand out in his point.

Around me stood Suzu, Hibiki, the ameture Agents, Meyers, Hunter, and all of the pokémon following us. Everyone looked determined, faces cast in slight shadow from the pale violet light illuminated from the clouds' images that overrode the red light below.

"OUENDAN!" "AGENTS!" cried the crowd, smiling in relief.

Unseen to the viewers, Travis's parents gasped and said, "Travis...!"

**-:-(MISSION: ) The Grand Finale? Two Worlds' Last Shot!-:-**

The Agents and pokémon scattered into the crowd while us Ouendan dashed to find a suitable cheering place. Travis barked, "We have to believe! Put all your energy into it and fight back with the power inside of you!" as he passed by Team Rocket and Abe.

"""OSU!"""

Team Rocket and Abe stood, determined flames leaping up as they felt it. """"GOOOOOOO!""""

"Fight all you want, but you're only gonna make me MORE pissed!" Travis looked up and snarled.

Lock landed on a rock, surrounded by evil flame, smirking. "This is a REAL battle! Not pokémon-versus-pokémon, but a skirmish in a war!" he warned. He pointed at a group, which included Rosa's and Sooteye's posses. "Your way of life is on the line!"

"""OSU!"""

More determined flames. "GOOOOOOO!" (There's a lot in that group, so yeah, no multiple "'s.)

Kelly, Benishirina, and Luna. Marin, Kagome, and her charges. Ash, Charizard, Pikachu, Brock, and Dawn. Everyone was getting energized, now, as the Ouendan passed by them. The scene made Kojiro and other Japanese real-worlders feel déja vù; it was all quite similar to the start of the COUNTDOWN performance some time ago by the Ouendan.

Me, Suzu, and Hibiki skidded into place at a spot nearby the slope of the mountain as we began what I was sure was our final cheer.

"""IKUZE!...SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!"""

- I'm a soldier, znachit ya ((I'm a soldier, and that means))

- I otvetchik i sud'ya ((I'm both defendent and judge))

- Ya stoyu na dvuh kontsah ognya ((I am standing on the two ends of fire))

- Ogibaya virazhi, obgonyaya smert' i zhizn' ((Bending over the steep turns, overtaking death and life))

- Ya begu srazit'sya s ten'yu lzhi ((I'm running to fight the shadow of the lies))

- Skol'ko b ni...

The song for this dire time was the original opening theme to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 2nd Gig, "RISE" by Yoko Kanno and performed by the Scandanavian (I think) singer, Origa. The heavily remixed and rearranged version of the first theme ("Inner Universe") and the complex (no pun intended) cheer of us Ouendan accompanied the crowd in their battle. The primary targets in the crowd who led the side of good were, incedentially, all of the targets that had been cheered by the Agents and us since Lock joined the EBA. At first, the crowd was fighting off the Hatemonger assault barely, the pokémon fighting to a standstill and the people cheering and defiantly dancing with moderate energy-some were doing their best, others were tired. In one place, Travis and Lock were seen locked in a wrestling match, Fallen Agent versus Wannabe Agent. Then, in a frightening dip of confidence, Lock, who had overpowered Travis, was leading the charge with fireballs and minions, the crowd yelling and diving out of the way to avoid getting hit. The lighting had gone in favor of the fiery type. Their drive to survive then passed through like a wave, soon after, and inspired them to cheer and dance with all their heart, a spectrum-bordered white flame starting around them. The pokémon were holding off the demons, repelling them-but not quite defeating them. Lock was being subdued by Travis, who had him in a pin and was pouring his moonlight energy into his body.

"We're trapped!" cried a boy.

Rosa, Sooteye's friends, and Kagome stood with their other friends and some others against a mountain wall, cornered by a group of Heavy Hatemongers (the big ones). They were charging an attack of fire. "Prepare to die!" they growled, paws together a la Kamehameha Wave.

Everyone blue-squiggle-faced and pressed up to the wall. "They're gonna shoot!" one of Sooteye's friends whailed.

"BEGONE!" the demons roared before firing.

_FWOOM! WHACK!_ The attack failed! Everyone, cringing and bracing, looked up and saw, to their delight, the pokémon and Tag, Yer, and It doing all they could to defend them: Sooteye was standing with Block, making use of his Thick Fat ability, Pidgeot was using Whirlwind, and the former bandits were dashing and attacking the demons with all of their soul, some of the white, iridescent fire appearing around their shoes and hands as they struck with immense fighting prowess. "STAY BACK!" they cried.

**-(O)-**

(-)Skol'ko b nitej ne plyol obman ((No matter how much (many?) threads deceit weaves))

(-)Pokazhet lik sveta istina ((The truth will show the face of light))

"Peekaboo."

We turned and got a facefull of dispair beam from a demon before falling. I felt the worst feeling ever...as if everything negative I had ever felt was coming back in spades...as if I could do nothing...My spirit's fire was extinguished.

Lock smirked at his minion's work, pausing from his grapple with Travis. "That oughtta-" he began before looking up and going, "HEY! Why's the music...?"

Standing and doing their swaying to everyone were his former backups, Meyers and Hunter, performing without a leader. Travis grinned, upside down from his position on the ground. "Agents!" he cried.

Moments before the next segment began, Meyers and Hunter stopped and pointed out with smiles. ""HEY!"" they cheered with their souls, feeling the flow of music and the cheer. They felt in their chests the energy that is the source of the EBA's cheering effectiveness. As such, they were able to perform an on-the-spot chorus dance as if they'd practiced it a million times.

The plateau went from firey roaring to energized swaying. "WWOOOOOOAAAAHH!"

- (It's time to stand)

- Save your tears

- For the day

- When our pain is far behind (It's time to live)

- On your feet

- Come with me

- We are soldiers stand or die (There's no time to be afraid(?))

- Save your fears

- Take your place

- Save them for the judgement day ((I can't make him out...))

- Fast and free

- Follow me

- Time to make the sacrifice

- We rise or fall

The throng did the same as before as the Agents did a strong interperative dance. They didn't do as well as they could have, but it was mostly as best as they could do it.

"Go, go, go!" Benishirina went, running along with Abe and Brock and spreading out salt in a long line.

"Dig like you've never dug in your entire life!" Jessie ordered as she, James, Meowth, Wobbuffet, and, of all people, Marin worked with pickaxes as they tried to dig into the rock. Beside them were other pokémon, all using Dig as hard as they could.

Platoons of demonic soldiers pressed in. "CHAARRRRRGE!" they cried.

"HURRY!" cried Elodie, jump-stomping a powerful Fissure along the line of the trench they were making, spiderweb-cracking the surrounding stone. After the rock was mostly weakened, TR went in a whirlwind of expert hole-digging, with help from Marin and the other pokémon. "YAAAAAH!" they all cried.

"NO MORE TIME!" Everyone who could dove in, regardless of how finished it was, at the last second.

_WHAMMO!_ The salt halted the fighters and the trench shielded them from the attacks. Elodie, too big to get in, was struck, but was so enormous, it would have taken more than the four or five dispair beams that were fired. She looked down, wincing a smile to the others in the pit.

Everyone stood, James resting his hand on his pickaxe while mopping his brow. "Not even demons can stop the hole-digging masters!" he crowed triumphantly with a tired but satisfied smile.

"A-MEN!" agreed the others, making some of the people in Cartoon Network HQ wince a little at the fact they're gonna get litigated, for sure.

-(O)-

(-) (Instrumental)

(-) I'm a soldier, born to stand

(-) In this waking hell I am

(-) Witnessing more than I can compute

"Uuuugh..." I groaned as I stood up, my spark reignited from the cheering of Meyers and Hunter. "They revived me..." I muttered. I gasped and looked up as I heard a loud noise. "**!** NO!"

Meyers and Hunter fell down, pale and subdued. They'd been hit.

My heart froze as I looked around at everyone. "It's..." They looked back or continued their battle. The music contined. "It's like before..." I gulped, then closed my eyes and nodded. "I have to..." I looked up again, my fire igniting to full. "It's all up to me! I CAN'T give up!"

Or, at least, I tried tell myself as I skidded into place again.

"OSU!" I cried.

Alone against what must have been more than two million people, pokémon, and demons, not to mention the viewers.

- Pray myself we don't forget

- Lies, betrayed and the oppressed

- Please give me the strength to be the truth

- People facing the fire together

- If we don't, we'll lose all we have found

- (It's time to stand)

- Save your tears

- For the day

- When our pain is far behind (It's time to live)

- On your feet

- Come with me

- We are soldiers stand or die (There's no time to be afraid(?))

- Save your fears

- Take your place

- Save them for the judgement day ((I can't make him out...))

- Fast and free

- Follow me

- Time to make...

'I can do this!' I told myself over and over as I cheered. But no matter how hard I cheered, it seemed, they couldn't do more than barely...That's when the chorus came again. ''It's time to stand'...' I repeated. _'It's time to STAND!'_ With a roar, I poured my entire body, mind, and spirit into my cheering, emitting as much energy as I could.

And they fought harder.

(-) Time to make the sacrifiiii-i-i-ice

"THUNDER!" Ash cried, pointing as he commanded Pikachu in front of him. He was alone against a wall. He was to my right at the moment and pretty nearby.

"Perfect shot..." Master came floating up here, aiming a finger and charging a dispair beam.

Lock came down before Pikachu could move and smirked. "I've waited a while to do this," he said, floating.

Right in Master's line of fire-firing fire.

I whipped my head around at this, alerted. I then turned an arrow stomp into a closed-fist dash, turning to him as I did the move. My profile was all Master could see as my arms swung down. Then, after doing a hand clap on the run, I jumped and thrust my arms out, crashing into Lock. My left hand burned as it collided head-on with the eyes behind him.

"AAAWWRRRRUUGH!" Lock cried, flying back farther than me, his body having been transferred my momentum. I hung in the air for a split second. Just too long.

(-) We rise or-

_**K Y U U U U U S H H H H H ! ! !**_

-:-:-

(...)

Vrrrrrnnnn-Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk-

VWOOYYY-PSHH!

(...)

TEUUSHH!

* * *

(DREADFULLY sorry for how much I swiped from Earth's Last Day (or whatever it's called) for this!)

Nope, I didn't just edit this chapter to close a possible plot hole! Nope, not me! *whistles*


	29. Cartoon Heroes :Speedy Mix:

_____

(29)_*_*_( ) (One) (More) (Time)

-:-:-

The young Ouendan's body tumbled and rolled like a ragdoll, Ash standing and looking on in horror. The crowd stood motionless, the demons stood in awe.

A smoking finger fell, and Master's face could be seen. "...fall." He loomed over the plateau, illuminating it in hellish light. He crossed his arms and hovered, wings open and legs dangling, fire spewing from his body like a stench. "And so is snuffed the last light of hope. I was starting to get annoyed--your futile efforts had lost its entertainment value." He hovered over slowly to Lock.

The people above and below began to collapse to each other. Tears began to stream as the realization that they were all doomed washed over them all. "The Ouendan are gone..." whined Charizard as he stood in a group with some of the other pokémon, some of whom were tearing up.

"Agents..." breathed Travis. He was currently on the ground, fur rough in patches and slightly burned after Lock had subdued him to get to Ash. Around him stood some of the humans.

Dragonair collapsed, barely any body holding her head from the ground. "Kioshi..." she whispered slowly, tears filling her eyes.

"Worthless," Master spat as the camera focused on the spiritually dead bodies of the Agents and Ouendan (not the ameture Agents, though), first on the plateau and then through the image from EBA HQ.

It focused back on Master, who floated over Kioshi's body, turning to face the crowd. "That's what all of this...determination," he bit out, as if the word were made of bitter pepper, "is." He scanned the crowd. "This world is in desperate need of reform, whether it likes it or not," he said. "This story is feeble and shallow, a drawn-out torture. The amount of innocence is sickening!" He opened his upper set of arms and spread them out, palms up. "Where's the hate, people? The conflict? Nowhere!" He crossed his arms again. "A world without racism and environmental issues...This world is so optimistic, it's detestable! And as much as we need hatred, we feed the best off of darkness." He chuckled. "And darkness is what we shall bring."

'Uuuhnnn...'

I groaned and shakily got up, looking around. Black. 'Who was that talking...? Where am I...?' I muttered.

'Inside your head,' answered a familiar voice.

I gasped and looked up. Before me stood me, glowing in fire and looking like a bat outta hell. I shot to my feet and stepped back. 'Wh-wh-WHAT?! Me...?!' I exclaimed.

The other me smirked and nodded, floating over. As he did, he grew and changed. 'Yes...your hatred. The hatred you have lying deep within you,' he answered. 'The hatred you all have inside of you.' He stopped, towering at sixteen feet above me and changed to be a slightly-different-looking Heavy Hatemonger; instead of one set of arms, he had two, and he wore my shades. He chuckled deeply. 'Come on, admit it, I look sexy,' he jibed.

I grimaced. 'No,' I fought back. I backed up and hit a wall. I turned and found a window. It was currently black, and I heard groaning and grunting and wind, as well as a voice speaking. 'What...?' I whipped around again. 'What do you want?!' I demanded.

'We want to make people suffer,' my hate replied, copying Master's words perfectly as he spoke. 'By spreading darkness across this world and the other world, we will breed suffering. Suffering breeds hate and unneeded pain and selfishness. Ah, selfishness--that wonderful word. Let me just say that, right now, every person in the world thinks only of themselves.'

'You're WRONG!!' I fought back, clenching my fist.

'Oh, AM I?' he asked, raising an eyebrow. 'Think. Why do you help? Because you don't want to feel bad and because you're taught you should--you don't want to go against others' opinions. Why do you make friends? You don't want to feel lonely. Why do you create? To get attention. Why do you defend the arts? Because they are entertainment and they make you happy, and no addict enjoies their addiction being taken! FACE IT!!' He got in my face, making me sweat a bit. 'All that you do you do for yourself! Why do you love? BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO MATE!!'

While Master paused to let this sink in outside, my hate prodded me with a finger in the chest, making me grunt. 'And YOU, Agent Lock, are especially guilty,' he added. 'You've been getting overconfident.'

"And a sign of selfishness--another form, sugared to become less threatening by humanity--is confidence," continued my hate and, outside, Master. He looked down at Kioshi. "It is an impossible-to-manage quality. Too little, and you will fail, never able to fully carry out your task. Just enough, and you're apt to change at the drop of a hat. And too much..." He chuckled as he looked at my body. "Too much, and you open yourself to demons," he finished. He narrowed his eyes and barked, "Lock! Quit fooling around! You've got the audience you've wanted! The audience you've craved! The audience you've been having since you joined the Agents!" He whipped his head up and laughed, "AN AUDIENCE WHO LISTENS TO _YOU_, OF _ALL_ PEOPLE!!"

I froze as my body shook my head and looked up, giving me a glimpse through tinted windows at the people looking at me. I gaped and removed my own shades slowly. 'He's...he's right,' I realized. 'I've...' I looked down in shame. 'I've been loving the fact I've been able to get an audience to actually respect me...ME, of all people...a nerd. A Band geek. A target.' I put my hands around my head. 'I've let being an Agent get to my head!!' I whailed.

'And that sickens me,' continued Master/my hate, settling down. 'Only foolish, flat people such as you all could ever value this boy. What endears me is the fact that it really is actually quite shallow--you only appreciate the Agents and the Ouendan because what they do for you. You treat them just as they should be treated--TOOLS, there to better your own situation and stamp on others!' They laughed again. 'The only disadvantage to letting these fools run rampant is that they encourage positivity, that fake concept that shields us from our source: Hatred. Somehow, if one is 'good,'' they finger-quoted with their second set of arms, 'they are immune to us, even if our world's entrance was breached and we were better able to come to this mortal world.' They set their arms across once more. 'But we have played on the fact that these organizations' leaders are stupid, full of the folly of 'positivity' and the fake definition of 'love'. By using our power and finally luring young, inept Agents and Ouendan into this world, we have upset the reality of this world and theirs, further encouraging our invasion.'

"With that, we have waited for the right time to take out all of the Agents and Ouendan while they are in an easy place where none can get them--in front of television screens!" Master/my hate guffawed. "How stupid! But that stupidity is what makes it so great. Now, we have this sickening world in our hands..." All arms spread out. "No more will there be happiness or this taunt to realism. No world is happy. Nobody likes everyone. Nobody is good. And for the victory we will accomplish, you have only to thank the viewers of this fabricated world--this _show!_" Master looked to the clouds. "Thank you, America, in the most part! Your hatred of this world, placed so rightly, is the greatest kind--based on foolishness. Oh, how your brains can be a blessing and a hindrance! Listen to your hate--but wait, that's the wrong kind! _WHA_-HA-HA! Confused yet? Heh." He looked down again, arms folding again. "Now, watch and remember the day this world finally perishes and a new world--our world--rises up in its place, a world fulfilling your desires to see a reflection of life the way it is!" He opened one arm at a time. "Darkness! Selfishness! Hatred! Pain!" All arms came in and then out (which added the third set Master owned) when he roared, "_DISPAIR!!_ THE KEY TO OUR ESCAPE AND OUR VICTORY OVER THAT _SICKENING_ FOOLISHNESS CALLED HAPPINESS!!"

At this, Ash opened his eyes, tears flying out, look of determination on his face. Dragonair opened her eyes, tears flying out, look of defiance on her face. Both, having gone to the ground, came up slowly. Ash took his hands and opened them slowly while Dragonair flashed, her friends behind her flashing, as well. Then, both stood full and erect. Together, they began.

_Clap._ "E. B. A." _Clap._

"O...en...DAAAN!!"

Slowly, very slowly. Ash stood and clapped, chanting.

Slowly, very slowly. Dragonair finished evolving into Dragonite while reeling back and punching, speaking in Human. She was joined by Teddiursa, now Ursaring, and then Croconaw, now Feraligatr. Both of them seemed to be a lot skinner than they ought to, though nobody noticed at the time.

I shot my eyes open. 'What...?'

"Wha-ha-hat?" laughed Master in disbelief. "You HONESTLY think that they can hear you? That you can do a dramatic worldwide chant and revive your 'heroes'?" He laughed. "But why? You know that it's futile! Nobody is good! You only want to use them to preserve your own way of life!" He shook his head as they continued. "Don't believe me? Go on. Try it." He folded his arms and waited.

'You...' I looked at Ash from the window. 'You trust me...even now...?'

Others looked at each other, then nodded. "Let's take him up on that," said someone.

"Together now!" said another.

_Clap._ "E. B. A." Clap. "E. B. A." _Clap._

"Ou...en...DAAN!!" _Punch._ "Ou...en...DAAN!!" _Punch._

'I can't believe it...' I muttered, crying a little and smiling. 'Ash...everyone...you still believe in us...and you trust me even though I betrayed all of you...'

'Futile. I'm waiting for the word to distrove them, which should be any second, now,' my hate said, nodding.

After a few moments, Master glared and said, "Trial up. Lock, show them that their hope is gone," he ordered my body, which had stood at attention after being ordered before.

"YESSIR!" it cried, as if saluting Kahn. It stepped forwards, aiming at Ash with my mic. Ash kept cheering, as did the others. They increased their cheering speed and settled on a good beat.

I looked at this scene, and my life flashed before my eyes. My best friends and fellow Agents, now lying lifeless on the stone...My loving family, now watching at home in horror...My experiences with everyone I've helped, including Ash...now gone...to nothing...And I wondered, breifly, how they all got better even after all this...how they all still fight...

And it hit me.

_SMACK._

'Huh?!'

'No.'

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

My body stopped in front of Ash. "Eh?" Master grunted.

The ameture Agents added their cries, now, and the cheering increased until everyone was cheering.

"EBA! OUENDAN! EBA! OUENDAN!"

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

I gripped the arm of my hate, pulling him down to my level after the jump. 'No. You're wrong,' I said.

"You're wrong," I heard myself say in a shaky whisper that faded as my hate tried to break free and came in as I clenched harder.

"What?!" asked Master/my hate.

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

'There's something that you just don't get behind all that logic you spewed,' I said slowly, putting my shades back on.

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

White fire, the kind with the spectrum around the edges, began to flare up around my body inside my mind. I felt strength returning to me. 'You just don't get it.'

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

"What don't I get?!" asked Master.

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

'You're wrong about this world!' I grabbed my hate with both arms.

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

'You're wrong about good and kindness!' I began to spin him around and around my mind.

(-) What we do is what you just can't do

"Wrong about you weak creatures?!" Master scoffed.

'You're wrong about us 'weak creatures', too!' I added, slamming my hate onto the floor one way, then the next.

(-) We are the cartoon heroes, u-_woah_-oh...

The Ouendan's bodies were being filled with color again.

'You're wrong about nearly everything you said--nearly, I'll give you that, but only barely!!' I spun again.

Meyers's and Hunter's bodies began to glow again, too. A fire imbued with golden energy began to emanate from them.

The eyes were fading.

"No...No!...NO!!" Master was shouting.

(-) We came out of a crazy mind, u-_woah_-oh...

'And it's because you just don't under_s_t_an_d t_he c_ruc_ial thing we all have inside!"_ I finished, finally tossing my hate against a wall. He broke into a thousand lights and disappeared, three or four remaining after changing into a more subdued color and going away.

(-) (One extra measure instrumental effect)

The eyes behind me vanished. The fire around me was put out and replaced with the fire and light within me as I, along with the Ouendan and other Agents jumped up high, bursting with the power coming from our bodies. We soared high with an echoing, mingling, """OSU!!""" """HEY!!"""

_"WHAAAT?!"_ roared Master.

(-) (Instrumental)

We landed together and quickly did victorious mini-speeches as the crowd went wild.

"""The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!!""" we announced with pride and joy as we posed.

"OSU!" Hibiki shouted. They went one way.

"TATAKAE!" Suzu added. They went the other.

"OUENDAN!" Kioshi finished. They went forwards.

The crowd cheered, and a light could be seen coming from behind the clouds. Day was coming upon us, like it was when our team saved the world.

Me and Kioshi looked at each other. Our teams were side by side. The music was pumping. And the crowd was already getting pumped, swaying with a fist while fire and light poured from their bodies. "Let's teach them a lesson, eh?" I asked, smirking.

Kioshi nodded, agreeing, "One they'll never forget."

We jumped up and swayed on the left of the audience while Kioshi and his cohorts skidded into place on the right with an """OSU!!""". The people who were most visible, however, were both of our teams' leaders. We started what may have been the most groundbreaking cheer in EBA/Ouendan history on the song's seventeenth measure and counted down during the eighteenth, extra measure. Our words were in near unison, going evenly together.

**"""IKUZE!!"""--"""Are you ready?!"""**

_"HAI!"--"YEAH!"_

**"""SAN!"""--"""3!"""---"""NI!"""--"""2!"""--"""ICHI!"""--"""1!"""--"""SURE!!"""--"""GO!!"""**

- We are what we're supposed to be

- Illusions of your fantasy

- All dots and lines that speak and say

- What we do is what you wish to do!

- We are the color symphony

- We do the things you want to see

- Frame by frame, to the extreme

The very song that, ironically, I had the least confidence in, that we STILL had trouble with when we last practiced, which was sometime before "Aisle 10":

"Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix)" by Aqua (remixed by Barbie Young), a song that both of us--EBA and Ouendan--knew from its presence in Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. While I danced with just about every move I knew to the complicated routine, Kioshi pulled out practically every single Ouendan move in the book in the same routine. Our cheers were together, blending "HEY!" with "OSU!" in an interesting combo. Behind us, barely noticible to the audience, our backups did their best, working side by side.

While we danced and cheered, the crowd fought back, but differently. Instead of actually fighting, the pokémon came and cheered and danced, as well. The ones who were most aligned with the EBA did the dancing--party dance maneuver number 1, for those who know what I'm trying to reference--and the ones with the Ouendan cheered, everyone pumping their arms in time with the beat. Even the people in the real world did so. The same basic things happened: If they were okay, they were half going, half tired, with their selves being protected from ambush by a faint, barely-strong-enough beat-pusling barrier that Travis was making with moonlight. If they were discouraged, they were jumped, running around to avoid attacks. If they were energized, tall, powerful white-and-rainbow fire poured from their bodies. No one could touch them. This all fluxuated a lot, partially due to us. This was the hardest song we all knew. And we had never aced it in our lives. It was one of the songs in the EBA book that few missions had been done without an error with. And there weren't a lot of missions.

Groups of people stood cheering while pokémon helped defend them with strong, light-fire-powered strikes that banished the demons around. "OSU!" "HEY!" **"OSU!" "HEY!"** went the humans and any cheering pokémon.

"Nobody!" Pikachu and Charizard cried (in their language) while protecting Ash and co., Liza, Charla, and some others with fire and electricity.

"Gets away!" Pidgeot (with Rosa atop) and Sooteye shouted (in their language, as well), using wind and pure force to defend their friends and others.

"With hurting!" Elodie, Zante and Vesp, and Yena yelled, using strength and speed to watch over Abe, the two women-of-the-house and their families, and others (including Travis's family and the ameture Agents while they led their own dance, though simpler than ours due to lack of practice).

"OUR LOVED ONES!!" ROARED Dragonite, Ursaring, and Feraligatr, mostly Dragonite, as they defended Benishirina and Luna, Kojiro, Kelly, and us.

Kioshi punched out with his left arm while I thrust my mic with my right. ""Because we'll defend them with all our heart!"" we finished resolutely, bursting with light-fire along with the others.

Master gawked as all of his fiery troops on the plateau were incinerated by the glowing burst of fire, leaving him alone. "H-HEART?! But--!!" he screamed, holding an arm up to defend himself from the painful power we radiated.

**---(O)---**

(-) Our friends are so unreasonable

(-) They do the unpredictable

(-) All dots and lines that speak and say

(-) What we do is what you wish to do

(-) It's all an orchestra of strings

(-) Doin' unbelievable things

(-) Frame by frame, to the extreme

(-) One by one, we're makin' it fun

Master gazed into the distance and commanded, "TROOPS! ENOUGH SCREWING AROUND, DESTROY THESE PESTS!! ALL OF THEM!!" On the screens around the main one in EBA HQ, if the camera could see there, scenes of people in other regions and in reality being invaded by more Hatemonger demons came up and in.

"""OSU!!"""

*Sway*

"You do a special dance, correct?" Kioshi asked quickly while we waited for our entrance.

"Yes," I replied as quickly.

"Then let's do it half-and-half," he suggested. "First chorus we all dance half, cheer half; second, vice-versa; third, we do our own thing."

"Agreed!" I nodded, impressed.

- We are the cartoon heroes, u-WOAH-oh!

- We are the ones who're gonna last for-ev-er!

- We came out of a crazy mind, u-WOAH-oh!

- And walked out on a PIECE of paper!

- Here comes Spiderman, arachnophobian!

- Wel-come to the Toon Town par-ty!

- Here comes Superman, from Never-Neverland!

- Wel-come to the Toon Town par-ty!

To my amazement, the Ouendan did our chorus dance (which, thankfully, allowed for us to split in the middle as we did) perfectly. We amazed ourselves by copying their cheering moves down to every angle their arms made, though we couldn't open our right hands for fear of dropping the mics. And we pulled through the actual chorus wonderfully, considering the circumstances.

Looking up, we saw, to our relief, that the people being attacked all over the world in reality were defending themselves with energy. As well, we knew folks in the Pokémon world were winning, too. Japanese men, women and children used Ouendan moves to blast with fire; Pallat Town folks were commanding with fiery forms; French folk saluted their native dramatic art by miming a solid wall of fire in front of them; Slashers were destroying everything in sight with fire-enhanced weapons; and New Yorkers in Times Square were doing what New Yorkers do best, kick ass. As they fought, we cheered on, going in groups.

""The heart and mind..."" me and Kioshi began, fists out forwards.

""...are two different things,"" continued Meyers and Suzu, Meyers slouching and holding his hand to his left side while Suzu held her left arm, hand flat and vertical, out, standing straight.

""While you're right that..."" Hunter and Hibiki carried on, dropping and spreading their legs while one hung his free hand and the other punched the ground.

"""...we essentially think only of ourselves...""" Travis, Frank, and Dorian chimed in, kicking to the right in unison.

"""...our minds are built to work that way!""" went on Dragonite, Ursaring, and Feraligatr, holding their arms up from a thrust.

Some Heavy Hatemongers entered through the many monitors of the EBA's screen, aiming blasts of flame. They were decimated by a burst of fire and energy.

**"HEY!"**

**"OSU!"**

Standing and smirking (or grimacing), the EBA and Ouendan proved themselves more tenacious than Master thought. Kahn rose from his seat, adjusting his glasses, as he and Kai finished, ""Our hearts allow us to and make us care for others!!""

The air began to clear, the clouds parting to show a bit of morning sky to shine between the clouds. Master groaned, "NOOO!!" and flinched from a sunbeam striking his shoulder.

**"HEY!/OSU!"** went everyone else.

**---(O)---**

(-) (Instrumental)

(-) We learned to run at speed of light

(-) And to fall down from any height

(-) It's true, but just remember that

(-) What we do is what you just can't do!

"NO! There's no such _THING_ as a heart!!" the leadin' demon decreed, coming down and assaulting us directly, now, pissed beyond all get-out. "Life can only follow the base needs and desires of their mind and body!! Enough STUPIDITY, already!!"

"""OSU!!"""

*Sway*

I heard gulps behind me from Meyers and Hunter, and I looked over my shoulder. "We can do it, if we believe in each other," I assured. "And believe in yourself." This, however, I added DIRECTLY to Kioshi, smirking knowingly.

**"!"** He tried to make no facial expression at this, but I could still feel it. Behind him, the Bluendan exchanged glances with each other, eyes glinting with caring triumph.

- An opera of craziness

- A bunch of dots that's chasing us

- Frame by frame, to the extreme

- One by one, we're makin' it fun (Chik-chik-chik-chik)

- We are the cartoon heroes, u-WOAH-oh!

- We are the ones who're gonna last for-ev-er!

- We came out of a crazy mind, u-WOAH-oh!

- And walked out onto a PIECE of paper!

- Here comes Spiderman, arachnophobian!

- Wel-come to the Toon Town par-ty!

- Here comes Superman, from Never-Neverland!

- Wel-come to the Toon Town par-ty!

This time, while everyone was cheering, they were working to repel Master as he tried to attack. The flames, however, were too much for him, and he had to shy away every time he swooped to strike. Meanwhile, during the chorus this time, we did Ouendan moves first, then continued the dance during the second half, as we'd decided. Again, we each caught on quite well.

Up in our world, people were cheering together in unison, and in very close contact. Brett and his fiancee, who hadn't come into the tvs because they couldn't enter the shop they were in, stood in the center of a close-knit line doing the wave down in California. As we saw this, we heard some of them speak back. "The mind can't function while a heart exists, but hearts don't work without minds, either!"

New Yorkers were dancing up a storm, Broadway style, in Times Square. "We're just so stupid and go with the flow that we never give things a second chance anymore, instead shooting prejudiced hatred at it!"

French were doing the can-can, Japanese were doing the Carameldansen, and English (ditching the fact that their native folk dance was disappearing in their own country) were in sets of six, doing capers with hankies. And everywhere else, if people weren't dancing, they were fist-pumping and cheering.

"Every good story is unique in its own way, with strong messages made to change the world and humanity's way of living to a better one!" instructed some French (translated).

"We older people want them to be 'cool' and dark with themes that we're comfortable being shown that way, even when that would destroy what makes them great!" a few Japanese noticed (translated, again).

"We've got to THINK about the messages already inside of them for ourselves before we color our hearts with opinion, and NOT just submit to peer pressure and jump to conclusions!" many English stated (translated for slang and spelling).

Back in EBA HQ, where one side of the main screen showed monitors of PokéWorld, the other showed them from the real world. "And that 'fictional' world you're in, demon, is so deep and rich, it is officially rotating in its own universe, not entirely bound to the world of its creator," Kahn informed in a serious, but cool, voice while sitting and steepling his fingers.

"If you mess around with what makes it true, then you'll do nothing more than destroy it and you with it!" Kai shouted with his fierce tone, crossing his arms and standing.

All through this, "OSU!" and "HEY!" filled the skies of Earth as it glowed with light-fire its dancing and cheering inhabitants were generating. The beautifully-detailed planet grew an aura of the rainbow-outlined white flame.

**---(O)---**

(-) (Instrumental, the first eight measures of it)

"No, no! There is only MISERY!!" cried Master, glowing with the white, fire-rimmed flame I had shot what felt ages ago.

"""OSU!!"""

*Sway*

"We're mostly through!" Suzu said.

"Let's keep it going!" Hibiki coaxed.

- (Instrumental (the main one in the song))

- One by one, we're makin' it fun

- U-WOAH-oh...u-WOAH-oh...

- One by one, o-one by one

- U-WOAH-oh...u-WOAH-oh...

- We're makin' it fun!

- (More instrumental)

- U-WOAH-oh...u-WOAH-oh...

This was one of the hardest parts, involving many spinner maneuvers and tricky groups of consecutive hits. (It was nothing compared to the third segment of JJF, though, which we'd always failed at when practicing it in the HoloJam room.) What made it so hard was that there was little lyrical cue to follow--it was almost all made up of breakbeat percussion-following. NOT exactly fun for our tired (but not flagging) arms and legs. The Ouendan appeared to be struggling to keep up with it, but we all held it together and pulled through this fourth section.

Once-broken cities were washed over with a repairing line of light-fire that left them sparkling, humans getting up and cheering from their formerly-depressed states. "This world is beautiful and peaceful," I narrated, letting the camera see only the view instead of "green-screening" as we'd done two segments ago.

Fields and rivers, formerly burned and dried up, flushed with life as the light-firewall screamed over them. Wild land pokémon got up and cheered, too, in their own languages. "Here, nature is safe, coexisting with machinery happily."

The skies around mountains, dreary and smoggy, were swept with a fan of light-fire, filling it once more with clarity and cleanness. Flying pokémon swooped and cheered while two mountian climbers, one black and one white, joined them together. "Racisim is a silly, useless belief that has gone the way of the idea that Earth's flat."

Choppy, polluted waters were washed with a wave of light-fire, restoring their serenity and purity. Water-dwelling pokémon surfaced and cheered, while in a boat stood three people, who fished out a tire with their hands before cheering with them. "Through the buildup of kind actions that people can take every day, the whole of life was able to get to this point!"

After the camera showed all of these things, it came back to the plateau, where I shouted seriously, "The message of this world is not one that's obvious and shown by characters' actions--it's the world itself!! It's a Comedy!"

Me and Kioshi locked arms. ""**This is the world the way that it COULD be, should we choose to make that effort!!**"" we finished together.

A view from space could see an "OSU!"'ing and "HEY!"'ing land of Pokémon Japan, the country and all the regions--from the anime and from the games--becoming bordered with light-fire.

**---(O)---**

(-) (One last instrumental)

We didn't even give Master a chance to whine. Without us prompting them, everyone flaming-swayed. Kioshi and the Ouendan nodded to each other, and I looked and nodded at my fellow Agents. """"""_Let's end this!_"""""" we said in unison.

- You think we're so mysterious

- Don't take us all too serious

- Be original, and remember that

- What we do is what you just can't do

- (What we do is what you just can't do...)

- What we do is what you just can't do

- What we do is what you just can't do

- What we do is what you just can't do

- What we do is what you just can't do

- We are the cartoon heroes, u-WOAH-oh!

- We are the ones who're gonna last for-ev-er!

- We came out of a crazy mind, u-WOAH-oh!

- And walked out onto a PIECE of paper!

- Here comes Spiderman, arachnophobian!

- Wel-come to the Toon Town par-ty!

- Here comes Superman, from Never-Neverland!

- Wel-come to the Toon Town par-ty!

- There's still more to come

- And everyone will be

- Wel-comed at the

- Toon! (Toon!)

- Town! (Town!)

- Parrrtyyyy...

- _ENCORE!!_

Abruptly, we switched our dancing style to be more simple flowing, often making phrase movements when there were really felt as hit moves, as the music calmed down a bit from the intense, super-upbeat dance music it was until then. Then, after another spinner maneuver, we picked it back up and did as we had discussed: The Agents did their chorus dance, the Ouendan did their moves. When it came to the tricky-rhythmed final, "extra" part, we all did normal moves before, with a creschendoing whoop from us and roar from the Ouendan, we pulled out the final spinner.

Those familiar with the song were surprised when the last measure of the song was more busy, as if it went on, still. At our combined cry to repeat (encore), it did. It looped back to the chorus it was on, with a new sound in the background:

"What we do is what you just can't do! What we do is what you just can't do! What we do is what you just can't do! What we do is what you just can't do!" Some people and pokémon were singing the ostinato while others were cheering, "OSU! HEY! OSU! HEY!" This was happening in both the real world and the Pokémon world.

(-) We are the cartoon heroes, u-WOAH-oh!

(-) We are the ones who're gonna last forever!

Normal (or not) people and (almost) everyone we've ever cheered in this world--Agents or Ouendan--stood and did something on the plateau to express their own cheering while the camera, from above, panned from left to right. Ash did his fist-raised determination pose and shouted with Pikachu; Brock and Dawn raised their fists and cheered; Charizard bugled and flamed; Charlie TRUMPETED; Abe shot his pistol in the air; Elodie raised her paw to the sky with another back as if holding a fairy in a ballet dance; Travis joined from his group and howled while his "backups" posed in arrow positions; Benishirina and Luna raised their arms and cheered while holding each other; Erin, Paul, and Eliza did order arms; Marin lifted her sunhat high in the sky; Team Rocket saluted with their shovels; Cecil and his girlfriend pumped their fists; Kelly flourished her paintbrush; Travis's family howled with their eldest child; Rosa, Hiromi, and Jin thrust out a fist whilst riding Pidgeot, who cawed; Nozomi lifted her daugter up high and Masa his son while the former held her balloon up and the latter twirled a noisemaker; Kagome held up a pokéball while Takishi, Yusuke, and Itachi formed a human tower (oldest on the ground and youngest on top); Dragonair, Ursaring, and Feraligatr did more Ouendan cheering moves ("""OSU!"""); and Sooteye somehow did a comically high-flying stalefish while the other Street Blazers kids did other tricks. All the while, light-fire was blazing from the determined-eyed group, the ground below and glowing white with rainbow borders around the people.

"OSU! HEY! OSU! HEY!"

(-) We came out of a crazy mind, u-WOAH-oh!

Everyone back in EBA HQ was cheering, even Kahn.

**"OSU! HEY! OSU! HEY!"**

(-) And walked out onto a PIECE of pa-per!

The ground of the Pokémon world glowed with the light-fire, and the sky glowed with the light-fire. All of the demons left in either world stopped and trembled as the two universes rumbled, the flames collecting in a beam from above and below. Televisions and monitors in reality began to glow white.

All this time, Master was cowering from the light. "WHYWHY_WHYY!!!???_" he roared. "THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A HEART! IT'S ALL A TRICK MADE BY THOSE FEEBLE IMAGINATIONS OF YOURS THAT EXIST PURELY FOR THE INVENTION OF TECHNOLOGY!!"

"Then why are you so scared?!" demanded Travis, fur glowing white and beautiful. He grinned wolfishly, and a faint image of the head of his inner beast, Jet, could be seen floating behind him. "Admit it! Hearts DO exist! And with them come good!"

"And out of good comes the concept that you're afraid of," added Dragonite, flaming with white and red fire. "COURAGE!! Because if dispair is the key to your escape, then courage is the key to your capture!!"

"NOOOOO!!" Master raged as people joined in on the singing. He tried to fly away, going fast and far and high. "YOU'LL _NEVER_ ESCAPE CONFLICT! NO MATTER _HOW_ HARD YOU TRY, DISPAIR _WILL_ FIND A WAY!!"

"BUT WE _TRIVE_ ON CONFLICT, 'CUZ DAT'S WHY WE'S GOT COURAGE!!" Meowth threw it back in his face with his best Brooklyn-accented cat roar.

"Here comes Spiderman!" the real-world crowd sang.

"Arachnophobian!" the real-world cheerers sang.

"Wel-come to the Toon Town par-tay!!" the real-worlders chorused, their twin, twisting beams of white fire light shooting down, charging towards the archepeligo below.

"Here comes Superman!" the Pokémon-world crowd sang.

"From Never-Neverland!" the Pokémon-world cheerers sang.

"Wel-come to the Toon Town par-tay!!" the Pokémon-worlders and their visiters chorused, their twin, twisting beam of light shooting up, screaming for the patchwork of real-world clouds above.

Both parties sang in unison as the beams collided and created an enormous blast that cleared away all the Hatemongers.

"There's still more to come! And everyone will be--"

They came, the camera flashing between first the real, then Poké, beams, then crowds, as the next syllables came.

"Wel-comed at the--"

"_TOON!_" **BOOM!** They hit!

"(TOON!)" _FWOOM!_ A bubble shockwave of multicolored light swelled from the impact, obliterating every normal and heavy Hatemonger in both worlds.

"_TOWN!_ (TOWN!)" The two beams deflected off of each other and shot in the same direction, an enormous blast of blinding white, the camera following the tip.

"_**PAAAAARRRRRRTAAY!!**_" The beam engulfed a roaring Master.

And it ended at last.

The skies cleared to normal, showing a few blank, fluffy cumulus clouds in front of morning cerulean. A blissfully cool, gentle breeze blew across the land. One could still hear the real world's cheering combining with the Pokémon world's. Everyone below on the ground jumped and clapped and whooped and cheered yet still! OSU! HEY!

"EBA! OUENDAN! EBA! OUENDAN!" different groups of former targets and people continued to chant, jumping and cheering.

We stood, arms crossed and at our hips, dutifully serious and sincerely happy respectively, as everyone said our names.

"OU--E! EN--B! DAAAAAN--AAAA!"

The drums played as the Ouendan were treated with their own theme song.

- Ouen, ouen, ouEEEENNN...

"We promise to preserve this world we've worked hard to make as it is, Ouendan, Agents!" assured Kojiro, Benishirina and Luna, Travis's family, and Marin, smiling.

"Thank you so much for helping us in our troubles and come together, teams!" gave Charizard (in his language), Ash and co., and Sooteye (in his own language) and his friends.

- OSU! TATAKAE! OUENDAN! _(Bum!)_

Then, to our surprise, our own theme song, little-known, began to go up for us, right after the first. Infused with funky spy theme influence, we loved to hear it after such an effort. It was similar to the song we use as a warm-up at HQ.

- Go, go, g-go! Fight, fight, fi-fight!

- You're at the end of your rope and things just ain't right

- Go, go, g-go! We'll give you your chance--

- Elite Beat Agents, saving the world through song and dance!

- Agents are..._GO!!_

While we heard the women singing this song, we heard everyone else talking to us, too. "We'll never forget you or what you've reminded us of," called Abe and Elodie, Rosa and her friends and pokémon, Erin and the other Marching Rhydons leaders, and Kagome with Tag, Yer, and It.

"This place will never be the same, but in a good way!" informed Team Rocket, Nozomi and family, and Kelly.

We stood, team members side by side with team members, at all of this. We nodded and blushed a bit, then stood still as a blue-rimmed portal, big and wide, opened up behind us. We nodded again and turned, walking through.

As we turned, several certain people in the crowd gasped and ran to get closer. Kojiro and all the other real-worlders who'd fallen through and landed there scampered over.

"Everyone, together!" Ash called to the crowd, smiling. "Agents...are..."

**_"GO--OSU!!"_** shouted the throng, the camera getting a great shot of everyone we've cheered who are native to that world, as we left through the portal together with the real-worlders.

The camera faded to create one of the painted (Prismacolored penciled?) scenes, this one showing everyone and our retreating steps. _"And so,"_ the narrator returned, _"our heroes bade farewell to two fantastic groups of other heroes. Many adventures had been traveled, and many people met. Tragedies were averted, and relationships were rescued from the rocks. All while exploring the many wonders contained within the deep, ever-changing world of Pokémon."_

And the episode blacked out. And we could move normally again. I blinked and looked around. "Wow, for once the Pokémon world went faster than us," I muttered, looking back at the screen. We had all come out into the real world again. It felt so strange, so surreal...and it felt sort of happy, since it was one of those things where you hope so hard for it, you work so hard...but then you get there, and it's somehow not as happy as before.

"The portal will be closing in about five seconds," Diva Foxx informed us. "Keep away for safety." We noticed the voice was heard both here and on the screens.

"O SHI--" _Padda-puma-padda-buma._

"KI-O-SHIIIIII!!" _Patta-badda-fwoom._

"WOAH!" "YIEGHGG!" "WATCH IT!" _Kssh-kssh-kssh._

"WAII-AAII-AAAIIIT!!" _Bum-bum-bum._

On the screens we saw a bunch of people running from the crowd towards the slowly fading portal.

"UH-oh!" everyone went. Suddenly, something occurred to me. I turned around, digging into my coat, and called, "ASH!!" before chucking it high. "LOOK AFTER THIS FOR ME!!"

"Huh?" Ash saw a black, flat object fly through the air over the heads of the small train. "WOAH--!" He caught it just as the portal closed. He looked at it and gasped. "Woaaaah..."

_"Well! It seems as if this won't be the last we'll hear of the Ouendan or the Elite Beat Agents,"_ the narrator finished before the screen, for the first time in weeks, showed the words, TO BE CONTINUED in the bottom, like normal.

In Ash's hands was my badge.

-:-:-

An image of us, Agents on bottom and Ouendan on top, is visible. A crowd is heard cheering as a ring of the people we've cheered, some real and some not, appeared around us. (Some of them appeared to be meticulously hidden, for some reason.) The background was of the plateau.

-:-:-

Chieftan anger-veined, eyebrow twitching. "I'm happy you're all back," he grumbled. "But..."

He whipped up his head, above which was a massive pile of bodies big and small. "WOULD YOU ALL GET OFFA MY BACK?!" he roared, sounding more frightening than any demon we faced. With a bit of effort, we were able to obey his wishes. At last, when a normal person got off of him, Chieftan could stand, and he did so, brushing himself off. "Hmph. Thanks. Not."

"Chieftan?" Missy asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling. "What did those demons feed off of, hmm?"

He sighed aggravatedly. "They're GONE, now, so I can be grumpy that I was almost crushed by a mountain of flesh all I want," he reasoned, crossing his arms.

"Aw, shaddup and go play your ukelele," J waved his hand, smiling. He ducked and laughed, grabbing his pompadour down before it was chopped in two by Chieftan's swing.

"Would all you normal citizens of this world please exit those double doors over there," commanded Commander, pointing to some double doors. Kojiro and the other normal folk left.

On his way out, Kojiro smiled at Kioshi and said, in normal Japanese, "Good job."

Kioshi blushed and nodded, keeping a straight face. "Arigato," he replied. He allowed himself to smile a little after the only people around were "co-workers".

When they were all gone, Kahn sighed and sat. Standing beside him was Kai. "Kioshi, say something comfortably," he instructed.

Kioshi started at this before saying uncertainly, "Like this?" in Japanese.

Kahn nodded. "Thought as much," he mumbled.

"Kioshi, Suzu, Hibiki," addressed Doumeki.

"""Hai, Doumeki-sama!""" replied the three Ouendan like soldiers.

"Me and Commander Kahn do not think you and the Agents are able to understand one another in a common language like you could inside the Pokémon world," he told them in his native tongue. "Unless you can now speak in English as well as you can in Japanese, you might want me to translate for you these next few moments."

Kioshi shook his head. "Doumeki-sama, I could understand the dialouge between those two Agents and that Diva perfectly," he said in English.

"I could, too," Suzu attested, Hibiki nodding.

Kai nodded. "Then all the better," he said in English. "But if you are merely jumping the gun and need help, do not hesitate to ask."

"""Understood, Doumeki-sama!"""

Kahn nodded. "Good. Now that that's out of the way," he said, then turned to the crowd remaining as Kioshi was suddenly glomped to the floor by a great weight.

"UWOOF!" _WHAM!_

"OhmygoodnessIwassoWORRIEDaboutyoudon'teverdothatagainKioshi!!"

Everybody else in the room looked on, sweatdropping, as Dragonite, in all her glory, hugged and nuzzled Kioshi from atop him.

Kioshi gagged and squirmed. "Dragona--ite, please," he gagged, "you're...crushing...me..."

**"!!"** In an instant, she was off of him, and he was coughing and wheezing for a second before getting up, as well. She put a paw to her mouth, knitting her brow in worry. "Are you hurt? Did I break anything? Are you mad at me...?" she asked. Every word from her mouth, people noticed, was perfectly articulate English, as if she'd spoken it her entire life. When the young Ouendan spoke, though, they had a Japanese accent.

Kioshi shook his head, brushing himself off. "No, just tired," he answered, turning to look at her. She was about his height and DEFINITELY thinner than she ought to be. He looked concernedly at her.

Before he could voice it, though, Kahn cleared his throat, calling attention. "You all," he indicated with his finger, circling it around the new group, "are not supposed to be here. You realize just how much trouble you're now in?"

The new group consisted of Dragonite, Ursaring, Feraligatr, Zante, Vesp, Yena, Travis, Frank, and Dorian. They all looked a little guilty and many were sheepish, Travis the most.

"So?"

Everyone turned to see, hiding behind the small crowd, the skater kid from "Aisle 10". His earbuds were in, but hopefully off, and a can of black spray paint was in one of his cargo pockets. He was even wearing his roller blades. He crossed his arms and slouched, rolling his loose leg's skate forth and back. "Trouble's my middle name," he said.

"Really, now?" Kahn asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hm. Anyway, all of you are in trouble in the general sense," he went on. "You're now trapped in this world, much like how my Agents and Doumeki-san's Ouendan were trapped in yours."

Travis sucked in air through his teeth while the others (mostly) made sounds of, "...Whoops...". "You can't open a portal to our world again?" he asked.

"Not unless we can pick up the right signal," Foxx said. "See, the way we opened the portal was by locking onto the weak signal that our Agents' badges gave off. It's like a foot in the door."

"Then let's hope Ash doesn't do anything TOO stupid sometime soon," I said, smirking and crossing my arms. Everyone turned to me. "Having a burst of inspiration, I threw my badge back to him before the portal closed up again."

Kahn sighed in relief. "Good work, Agent Lock," he said. "Thank you. Now, Foxx, open the portal again. We need to get these people home." This caused the newcomers to start a bit.

"Right." She went to crouch on the ground at her laptop when a big, white, furry foot stomped in front of her, stopping her.

"Now, wait just a darn minute!" shouted Zante, putting his paws on his hips and giving his best zangoose glare at Kahn. "You're the leader of the Elite Beat Agents, am I right?"

"Yes. I am Commander Kahn," Kahn replied, raising an eyebrow.

"And you're sitting in a room with more gadgets and gizmos than a Swiss Army Knife convention with full knowledge of how they work."

"Correct, though Diva Foxx, there, knows more about them than I do."

Zante spread his arms and leaned a bit forward to Kahn. "Then I HOPE you are smart enough to know that we all KNEW there was a danger in coming through that portal, but we came through, anyway, each for a very good reason!!" he scolded. "We didn't just haul butt like a bunch of idiots to just be sent home again! Hear us out, already!!"

Kahn sat back and looked to be thinking. He muttered something to Kai from the corner of his mouth. Kai muttered back. "Alright, you've got a point, Zante," Kahn said. "Everyone, state your reasons for being here. First the pokémon, then their friends."

But then, ANOTHER interruption occured. Chieftan cleared his throat. "May I just for a quick moment?" he asked, looking up.

"Quick."

"You and Doumeki realize that your employees have been wandering on foot for days on end, cheering like crazy, and have finally come home after the biggest cheer and mission of their lives to this point, right?"

At THIS, Kahn and Kai jumped a bit, raising their eyebrows. They then looked at each other, smirking and nodding. "Agents Lock, Meyers, and Hunter," Kahn addressed. "Front and center."

"Kioshi! Suzu! Hibiki!" called Kai.

"""YESSIR!!"""

"""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!!"""

We all came into the center of a space formed by the people around. When we saw Kahn draw his arm back, half turning, we knew what was next.

Cue the victory theme of both groups!

"YEAAAAH!!"

"""OUEN!!"""

"DAI!"--CHUNG!

"SEI!"--CHUNG!

"KO!"--CHUNG!

"""MISSION COMPLETE!!"""

-

(...)

-

(WHOOO!! YEAAAHH!!! *clappity-clappity*)

Vrrrrrnnnn--Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk. Chuk--

VWOOYYY-PSHH!!

(...)

TEUUSHH!!

-

--

---

""Well done, Agents, Ouendan,"" congratulated both leaders, smirking as the older of them sat back in his chair.

"You have all just essentially single-handedly led two worlds, let alone one, to save themselves and each other," Kahn described.

"That was the largest-effecting cheer in Ouendan history--as well as the largest-effecting mission in Agency history," informed Kai.

""You've deserved this return home, without a doubt.""

"""Thank you, sir!"""

"""Arigato, Doumeki-sama!!"""

Kahn nodded. "Now, then, we can discuss this mission later," he said, "but we must figure out what to do with the Pokémon worlders." He nodded to Dragonite. "Dragonite, why don't you begin?"

Dragonite stood, frowning seriously as she faced the Commander defiantly. "I will admit it right now, I love Kioshi," she announced. "I know that it could never work, but I care too much for him after traveling with him for so long. At the same time, I care too much for what he is and what he does after so long near him. If I cannot see him anymore, then I at least want to carry on the work he cannot do in my world!" She placed a paw on her chest, which was out a fair bit more than normal (which is not at all). "I have come through the portal to your world with the intent of becoming an Ouendan and starting my own squad made entirely of pokémon back home!!" she finally answered louder.

"I have come with her with the same goal in mind after spending so much time with kind Suzu!" Ursaring declared, nodding.

"I came to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!" Feraligatr answered, earning himself a swat upside the head. "Yow, that actually hurt a bit, watch it...Alright, I came because I want to be an Ouendan, too."

Kahn and Kai looked at each other, humming in thought together. "Next," Kahn said.

Zante took a step forward. "I came to watch after Travis and company, as well as finish the Human lessons of Yena and Dragonite and her friends, the latter of whom all have minds like steel traps when it comes to language, if I do say so, myself," he added, smiling proudly at his pupils, who blushed a bit but remained serious, staring up at Kahn and Kai.

"I DARE you to separate us," was all Vesp hissed, nearly Glaring at Kahn.

"Understandable," Kahn said. "Next?"

Yena stepped forwards from beside Travis. "I have come because my best friend, Travis Monkshood, came," he said. "And...as well..." He looked over at Dragonite, then gulped and nodded resolutely. "I...I...I want to try out to be an Ouendan, myself!!" he finally spat out, closing his eyes and bowing his head in embaressment.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "A quadripedal Ouendan? This will be interesting," he muttered.

Yena heard this and barked, "HEY! I can learn! If that little meowth could learn to stand on two feet, so can I!" He clenched his paws.

Kai's eye sparkled. "Hm."

"Now, Travis?" Kahn pointed.

Travis sighed, padding forth, tail still and moving only with the air. He looked resolutely at Kahn. "Commander Kahn, sir, your Agents have changed my life with one simple song by The Faders, 'No Sleep Tonight,'" he began. "I was cured of most the evil of my lycanthropy and found what happens when one helps another without doing anything but cheer in the way that Agents Lock, Meyers, and Hunter did for me. It astounded me--song and dance? Being used to help people do...ANYTHING they need to do?" He held his paws up to emphisize his emotions breifly before letting them fall again. "Then, it was because of them that I was able to be the first in my family to defeat the curse and make peace with my beast, whom I named Jet and who taught me many things about myself--including the power I have inside of me." He placed his paw on his broad chest, feeling his heart beating a mile a minute. "I want to help people," he said, looking down. "I want to help. And a gazillion other things, too, but...I can't say them all right now, since I can't really think of any you haven't heard without twisting my own words," he said a bit quietly. He looked up again and nodded resolutely. "I asked my friends and they helped me with my harebrained scheme to save my family using Hoobastank's 'Without a Fight', and it worked. I knew then and there what it was that I was meant to do! Sure, I can travel with my friends on their journey, but what will I do? Help!" He stomped a footpaw down in front of him before leaning on it and held a fist up. "Commander Kahn of the Elite Beat Agents, I hereby request that you allow me to try out to become an official Agent!!" He spoke loudly and confidently, throwing and opening his fist.

"I'm with him!" Dorian added, running forwards and standing by his friend's side.

"I'm really here for the food, but me, too!" half-joked Frank, coming to stand by his friend, too.

"We've worked long and hard to become Agents in our own right," Travis said, whipping off his slit-eyed shades and gazing up at Kahn with his expressive eyes. "We helped during that huge mission. I jumped in and pulled it off at the end of the Ouendan's last normal cheer before then. And we successfully saved Mom, Dad, and my brother from being killed--or worse--by those demons and that cloaked man!" He looked down at himself, a big, buff, hairy freak. "I know that my appearance in this form would concern any normal person we help," he said quieter, then looked up again, "but I'm going to make use of anything that this werewolf form can give me as an Agent and as a person! Please, give us the chance to join the Elite Beat Agents!!"

Kahn hmmmed in thought, taking a moment to consider this dramatic appeal. "Finally, you, Skater Boy?" he asked instead.

He scoffed and shrugged, smirking. "I'm the only one here who came with just for kicks," he answered. "Though, if it's cool with you, this Agent gig doesn't look half bad." He skated around the room a bit, putting a hand to his chin as he appraised the walls. "This place could use a bit of color, though," he commented.

"Think about it and you'll be shot on sight," Kahn warned firmly, quietly anger-veining.

The guy skidded and turned, waving his hands and raising his eyebrows. "Aight, aight, cool, I was jerkin' your chain, 's'all," he defended himself calmly.

Kahn appraised him a moment before nodding and looking at everyone. "We've got an interesting situation on our hands," he said finally. "On one hand, we have some potential recruits, both for the Agents and for the Ouendan. But on the other, we have the fact all said new recruits are from a different world and should be getting back as soon as possible before our worlds' times become so distant, you can't return to your own time...among other factors," he added. "For your own safety, I opt on sending you all home this instant."

"I disagree."

Everyone looked at Kai. "Reason being?" Kahn asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kai bowed his head, eyes closed. "We'd be mentally ill if we allowed such brightly-burning youths to get out of our reach," he answered. "I feel strong cheering force coming from Dragonite and Travis, both of whom are very determined to be Ouendan and Agent, respectively." He looked at the ones whom he spoke of before looking at Kahn. "Kahn, I propose we give them a chance, if at least to let them work as satelites."

"Satelites..." Kahn muttered, slouching low behind his steepled fingers. "...A team in the Pokémon world..." He nodded before sitting up again straight. "Dragonite, you are already prepared, but Travis, I will give you the chance to try for the Agency on ONE condition," he said.

"Being...?" Travis asked.

"You and your friends cannot be members of this Agency."

Travis yipped and took a step back in surprise. "Wh-HUH?!" he went. Then he growled, flattening his ears. "The hell does THAT mean? What're you trying to pull!?"

"Did I ever say that you cannot be Agents?" Kahn asked.

Travis stopped growling, ears coming back as he raised his eyebrows. "...No," he replied.

"Therefore, you would have to follow Dragonite's example and form your own team in your world," Kahn said. "Although it will not quite be your own team--it will be a branch of this Agency. You won't be part of the main EBA proper--you'd be the leader of your very own divison make exclusively for the Pokémon world."

Travis's jaw dropped--a very noticible event. "You...mean it?" he asked in awe. "Me? A leader of my own branch of the entire Agency? Wow..." He looked away and at his friends, then turned back. "Will this mean I have to stop traveling with my friends?" he asked.

Kahn shook his head. "You won't get your own building, only your own gear and other things that Agents carry at all times," he answered. "You will essentially do what Kioshi and Agent Lock did--travel around and help whoever happens to be nearby thanks to your own badges. You will, however, also carry any technology we develop that eases the travel between worlds." He nodded. "Travis, I am actually very keen on this idea. Your world is just as complex and free as ours, as much as the television wants us to think elsewise. I wouldn't doubt it in the least if there are people in need there, even this moment, who need someone to help them the way we do. You and anyone you recruit into your divison--which you'd run by me first, of course--will be the only Agents responsible for your world. Are you ready?" An eyebrow raise.

Travis smirked at the choice of words at the end. "I am," he nodded. "Guys?" he asked over his shoulder. "Sound good? We could continue your journies and help people at the same time."

Dorian raised an eyebrow, but nodded, nonetheless. "It sounds interesting," he admitted. "I'll do it."

"As long as we don't have to help out any muk," Frank criteriated (if that's a word). "I am NOT getting knee-deep in gunk and stink to high heaven for days afterwards."

"I can't make any promises," warned Kahn, smirking behind his hands.

Frank sighed, shaking his head. "You guys know I'd never leave you to do something stupid alone," he said, smiling. "I'm in."

Kahn nodded. "Then we will begin sometime soon," he said. "Good luck in advance." He looked at Kai. "Your territory, now."

Kai stepped forwards and uncrossed his arms, holding them at his sides similarly to a drum major. "Dragonite! Ursaring! Feraligatr!" he shouted.

"""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!!""" responded the three pokémon, who quickly got into formation and resting positions similar to those of their human partners.

Kai narrowed his gaze. "And? You all believe you can become Ouendan and form your own team?" he asked in Japanese. "Do you think that you can handle the responsibility of every person who calls for your help? You will even need to get up in the middle of the night if there is nobody else to do it for you! Lead, respond!"

"HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!" Dragonite shouted back.

"Well? Are you ready to don the garb of one who cheers? You, who spend your lives walking naked? It will be quite difficult to get used to! Left backup, respond!"

"HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!" Ursaring yelled back.

"So? Are you ready to devote yourselves to learning not only the basic style of the Ouendan, but also forming your own unique way, as our former rival team from Morning Town has? Are you prepared to spend hours practicing and memorizing countless routines? Your arms will feel as if the bone is made of iron and the flesh made of lead! Right backup, respond!"

"HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!" Feraligatr called back.

"LIARS! YOUR WORDS MEAN NOTHING! SHOW ME!" Kai ordered, fire suffusing his face.

Dragonite didn't need to be told twice. In an instant, the Ouendan around her--and her backups--reflexively flinched as she suddenly unleashed a raging inferno from her body. The flames, visible by all of those in the room, licked the high ceiling above. She stood still, though, making no effort to visually increase the flow of spiritual fire.

"I've about had it with fire," I muttered, chuckling a bit. (And, yes, to my surprise, I knew exactly what they were saying, even though I had never been in a single episode in Japanese.)

Her backups soon followed suit, although their fire wasn't as high or strong as hers. Doumeki raised his eyebrows, impressed at Dragonite. "STOP!" he ordered. Instantly, they hid their fires. He nodded. "I believe you. You will have to do as Travis will, and make your own squad. You will have the same responsibilities, yet you will not have the luxury of being able to report to me every time you want to sneeze."

Kahn raised an eyebrow at him while me, Meyers, and Hunter did our damndest to not laugh, but he said nothing.

Kai continued, "You may consult with me or another wise Ouendan member, such as Ryuta, on the subject of potential recruits, but I trust that you will be able to feel it in your hearts. Use your gut instincts in detecting targets and other things! Expand your spiritual awareness while you train, which should already be strong with the nature pokémon have to see things humans cannot, as evidenced by the episodes! Respond!"

"""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!"""

"Then you are dismissed to rest!"

"""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!""" they all bowed.

Kai stepped back, looking at Kahn. "Your turn," he said in English, crossing his arms once more.

"Yena, skater boy, you will be allowed to rest, too, before you can try out, yourselves, but you will follow the rules we have set out," Kahn instructed. Yena and the punk nodded. "Then...All Agents and Divas, current and hopeful!" he barked.

"YESSIR!" came the enormous response.

"All but Lock, Meyers, Hunter! DIS-MISSED!"

"YESSIR!" All of the Agents besides me and my friends, potential Agents, and unaffiliated pokémon (read: Zante and Vesp) left through the double doors. As he passed by us, putting on his weird shades once more, Travis grinned to me. I smirked back.

When they had gone, Kahn looked at us. "You have endured the greatest mission any Agent has ever had," he said. "You have crossed the boundaries between worlds to help one target and ended up helping ten." (Remember? Erin, Paul, and Eliza counted as one each.) "All of this while traveling with characters from a world originally percieved as a fabrication of a Japanese man's mind that proved to be, in fact, a separate world where reality may operate on its own, unscripted and unplanned. You have endured many hardships and withstood a possession from a powerful demon." He looked especially at me at this. "Quite frankly, if you hadn't succeeded in everything you did and worked so hard, I would punish every one of you for weeks. You have NO idea what hell your parents have been giving me non-stop."

"Sir! That's why ya don't give our folks yo' numbah!" Hunter said.

Everyone not being talked to looked at Hunter and at Kahn. He only smirked. "I suppose that you're right, there," he said. He nodded and raised his head a bit. "Now! You are all VERY tired, I am sure! You have more than made up for the lack of missions you had earlier this summer with the missions you have done!"

At this, me and Meyers gasped. "Sir! What day is it?" I asked.

"August 14," came back the simple answer.

I was very surprised that every hair on the heads of Meyers and I didn't stand on end.

"Yes, you are being excused from Band Camp, given the circumstances, but delaying any longer would be unwise," he said. "And with that, I believe it is time that I congratulate you on being the first officially recorded dimentionauts and a job very well-done!"

"""Thank you, sir!"""

"Now! Get out and go home! A ride is waiting for you! Report back this weekend! DIS-MISSED!!"

"""YESSIR!!""" We turned and left out the double doors.

Meanwhile, behind us, Kioshi stood among the other Ouendan. "Kahn-san," he addressed.

"Hai?"

He looked a bit worried. "What about us and the other hopefuls?" he asked. "Are we going to get back home now? Or will we be waiting until we send back Dragonite and the others?"

"The latter," Kahn answered. "For now, you are welcome to stay here and use our facilities. In particular, we hope you enjoy the indoor park area," he added, raising his voice just a bit while looking directly at the pokémon.

They blushed and sweatdropped, but retained composure.

"With that, I cannot command you--only an Ouendan may do so. Doumeki?"

Doumeki nodded and shouted for the leader of the Bluendan to come up. "Do you give me your blessing?" he asked. The white-haired, cape-wearing leader nodded. Doumeki looked at Suzu and Hibiki. "Suzu! Hibiki!" he shouted.

""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!!""

"You are officially allowed to join the Evening Town Ouendan!" he announced. "You are given special permission to continue using whatever style you prefer, however, though you must wear our uniforms...though you have a choice whenever your leader is Kioshi!"

Suzu and Hibiki looked at each other, then nodded and replied, ""ARIGATO, DOUMEKI-SAMA!!""

"You canNOT let me or your teammates down, though you have performed admirably on the show!" Doumeki said firmly. "Is it understood you will give nothing but your best?"

""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!!""

"Then welcome to the squad!" He bowed breifly, and was returned the gesture. "NOW! Evening Town Squad and future squad!"

"HAI!"

"Morning Town Squad!" the Bluendan leader shouted.

"HAI!"

""IKUZE!!""

"HAI!!"

All of the Ouendan left the room. Kioshi hung back and walked beside Dragonite. "Thank you for coming," he said quietly.

"You think you can get rid of me that easily?" Dragonite asked softly.

"Not really," Kioshi muttered before the doors closed and Kahn was alone in the room.

He sat still for a moment before turning around to the screens. "...They are all devoted to it." Kahn paused a moment. "...They will be good Agents and Ouendan." Another pause. "Good." He stood and turned around as he came down from his desk. He went to the double doors, putting a hand on the light switch. He looked out around the room. "I can tell that we're going to need them and everyone else sooner than they think."

_Click._

-

I sighed, flopping my head against the headrest of the passenger-side seat as we drove off. "It's over," I whispered. "It's finally over."

"So, sick of that suit yet?" asked J, who was driving us.

I chuckled. "It's fireproof, waterproof, and pikaproof," I said. "I love this thing."

"Not to mention evil demon-proof," J added. "Oh, wait, that's the guy IN the suit."

"...That was corny," I said.

"Sorry, it's just been a long day for me," J apologized, chuckling.

I laughed. "A long day for YOU?!" I asked, smiling at him incredulously. "We've been up for God knows how long! I've been possessed for the last week! You have no IDEA what the definition of 'long day' is!"

He sighed, shaking his head smilingly. "No," he said, "I guess I don't."

We splashed through a puddle on the side of the road while a cool downpour drenched the city.

- - -

Note: Why they could speak in the pokémon world easily. They were in the dub and the demons' power was enabling them to be heard all around the world, even if through subtitles. Besides, the pokémon world speaks a different language than Japanese or English, so, like visitors to all worlds, translation immediatly occurs.

In a side note, let's all do the monkey and celebrate the end of this hell!! WHOOO!!

...

...Oh, wait, one more chapter. Damn.


	30. X: : : Epilogue : : :X

_____

(30)_*_*_( ) (Epilogue) (Postlude) (Afterword)

(Take your pick.)

Well, life finally wound down a little bit. I had a nice, LOOOONG rest at home, skipping a day of Band Camp in favor of staying home for once. This didn't turn out to be the GREATEST of decisions, seeing as Mom yelled at me for all that I did whilst possessed and for leaving in the first place. But I got to stay in a nice, air-conditioned house. We had to haul ass to catch up with the rest of the band, but that was after the Heroes' Welcome me and Jordan (Meyers) got. We were able to catch on, though. While we marched, I couldn't help but think about the Marching Rhydons, and the worm in my head was most often "Move Along". I was asked if I was thinking about that song by someone, actually, and I laughed and replied, "And you wouldn't be?" I also thought about Charlie, and breifly wondered what he'd be doing once marching season ended.

Otherwise, me, Jordan, and Barry (Hunter) all settled back into ordinary life at home with pleasure...well, for the first week and a half. Then we got bored again and decided to call HQ and tell them we were ready. But during that time, we always thought back to our journey.

Oh, the show! Yeah, there were some SERIOUS issues with the CN, the Pokémon anime's current dubbing company, 4Kids Entertainment (because their VA's were the ones heard), and, of course, Nintendo, GAME FREAK, and The Pokémon Company. It took a while before the last three corporations mentioned were able to convince everyone that it was completely accidental, since it was obviously some weird thing that was beyond anyone's control. So, Cartoon Network made the best of it and asked to sell the episodes we and the Ouendan were in on a DVD set. It was already selling pretty fast when we got back to HQ.

Meanwhile, the show itself appeared to go back to normal. They showed the episodes made by Japan, no more of the "live" episodes. There was some force that always made the "live" episodes show instead of the planned ones, and we suspected it had something to do with us and the Ouendan being there, and the power of the Hatemongers. However, the world we went to was still alive, still operating on its own. It was slowing down, though--when we checked in on my old badge one day and then two others, Ash asked why we were calling every hour. "It must still be connected to our world somehow," theorized Diva Foxx. "Maybe it's waiting for the episodes to catch up with it? See, incedentially, there haven't been any new episodes out of Japan since you came back. They've been taking a rest to think about things."

"I recently heard on that they were going to make new episodes again soon," Missy said at the meeting where Foxx gave her theory. "What'll happen? Are we going to see some fake story while the real one goes on, then?"

Foxx shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "We'll see."

"But...it'd feel like we're getting gyped if we have to go back to a world that's no longer in its own control," said Zante, who, after much pleading from the Divas to Kahn, was allowed to sit in on the meetings as a representative of his world. "And if we're not supposed to be back home when we want to--heck, I doubt we'll EVER be allowed back home if the writers have their way--we'll be stuck here no matter what."

"We'll see," Kahn said.

So we did. Three days later, Japan released a new episode. It was quite interesting--it turns out that the creators still had complete control over the events of the world, but they chose only to use it when needed. It appears that Ash is, quite frankly, an adventure magnet by nature. And, since the episodes we were in always were, in some way, shown like normal episodes, most people couldn't tell the difference. The way the creators pulled this off was by the fact they had known what was going on at all times. They said in an interview released in the next month's issue of many Japanese and anime/manga/video game magazines, "It was strange, yet cool. It felt like people were walking through our heads and that we were imagining, but without being able to stop or control anything. It was like a partially real dream in our brains. Now, we don't feel the people walking, and we now have control again, but we don't think we'd like to abuse this control. It's actually an honor to think the world we shaped together to the time when the Elite Beat Agents accidentially invaded it is actually able to be its own world in its own right."

Also, we found that, once the new episodes were airing, it appeared as if Ash and company were ahead by a couple days of the last episode. "Probably to 'film' things and do post-production," half-joked J. Ash got our calls more or less at the same rate we gave them, as well.

The characters were the same, too, but a little different. Team Rocket, despite the Ouendan's best efforts, still tried to steal Pikachu, but instead of being whiney about it sometimes, they appeared to be a little more mature, doing things with more effort. Ash was the same, seeing as he's able to set aside major happenings into the past and not let them affect him too much in his quest (as evidenced by the lack of in-anime references to all but the second movie). He still traveled, and he went along the guidelines the creators of the show set for him--in other words, the path of the Diamond and Pearl games. They met a new character each episode, which focused on a different pokémon, and they were able to solve their problems and stop Team Rocket. Things were normal.

But things weren't quite normal at HQ. Seeing as everyone was sticking around from the show to try out, there were interesting situations to be had, as well as new friendships to be made between Agents, Divas, and the Evening Ouendan (the Morning squad reasoned that, since they were basically only faintly involved, they could leave home, and did so). Travis spent equal amounts of time in human and werewolf forms, and he was a little unnerved when Missy obviously had her eye on the former of the two. Frank and Dorian, when they weren't sitting around, practicing for their tryout, or interacting with the new world around them, were busy training, which provided for many of those interesting situations since they could never find a suitible place to train.

More situations included things like wolf fur floating around the building and being discovered in food no matter where it was kept (there was also pokémon fur, but wolf fur was the major issue); poor Zante and Vesp being unable to sit somewhere and avoid PUBLIC displays of affection thanks to the security cameras; the pokémon finding a place to use the bathroom (Dragonite, to everyone's surprise, decided to toilet train herself and did so in a jiffy, proving her mind's like a steel trap for more than just language); and Rudy, as the skater kid's name was, being chased around by Cheiftan, J, Spin, and the other senior Agents while he skated off on his blades, spraying (mercifully washable) paint on the walls and managing to somehow create astounding graffiti in very short amounts of time.

But what was most intesting was when we got back to HQ. We had a couple days to say hi to all of the other-worlders again, which we actually liked despite having to meet MORE pokémon folks (we admitted that we were still a little tired of pokémon), as well as see what they were doing. Travis, Frank, and Dorian were hard at work, perfecting and practicing their moves, styled to be a bit more graceful than ours, and a new routine. Whenever they practiced in uniform, Travis transformed into a wolf, justifying it with the fact his tail had made a hole in his pants the first time. Dragonite was leading her two pokémon friends, Ursaring and Feraligatr, ferociously with moves she'd copied from her Ouendan friend and a routine. However, it appeared as if they were working on creating new move styles. Their corner arrow stomp was a blend of Evening and Morning, coming out smooth like Evening style but going to the angle that the Morning style goes, and the most-used Ouendan move was different, as well. Instead of going from the chest or behind the head, they stopped their paws at their shoulders before doing any of the double arm throws. In general, they created their style as a blend of the freedom of Evening and the militarism of Morning.

Working together with the Pokédan, as everyone around the building had come to lovingly call them, were their friends, Kioshi, Suzu, and Hibiki. When we came back the first day, they were in normal clothing instead of their gakurans. I was also able to talk with Kioshi, which I'll get to later. Dragonite, despite having deep affections for Kioshi, was actually very mature and able to act professional in front of her crush. We decided to take that day to work together with Travis, Frank, and Dorian. We went over basic tips and ran a routine with them. That same day, I recieved my new badge. I was slightly surprised that I hadn't gotten a promotion, but, remembering what I had learned, I shoved that aside and was happy to get a new badge. During a break in the session with the ametures, Travis came over to me.

"How're you feeling?" he asked, in human form because practice was sweaty enough without fur. His hair must have been killing him, though. He looked a bit concerned.

I smiled. "I'm feeling great," I answered. "It's tiring to be doing Show Band each day before work, but it's worth it."

He smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah, I guess," he said. He looked serious. "I was talking about your spirit, though," he told me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh?"

He held a hand out. "I can have Jet connect with you to search for any traces," he explained. "You know what I mean, right?"

I caught my breath a smidge as I got it. "Yeah..." I grimaced and turned my head. "That demon."

"Would you like him to check on you?" he inquired, tilting his head like a dog.

I nodded. "Yes, that would be great," I accepted.

So, later that day, we went through the process--the easiest way being me going to sleep and him using his powers. When Jet entered my dreams, they ended and I was granted lucidity. I was floating around in black space when he suddenly landed down on the ground, distant and invisible below, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. 'HOLY MOTHER OF--!!' I squawked, flailing my arms and legs.

He let out a deep laugh. "I apologize, it was irresistable," he told me. He then lowered his head to look at me with those enormous eyes. I felt like I'd be lost in them. 'Now, then, I will proceed with the search, if you don't mind,' he said before giving me a big, soaking kiss.

'Yeeeeuuugh,' I groaned, looking at my suit and soaked body. 'That's part of the search?' I asked.

He wagged his tail. 'Yes and no,' he answered, smiling. 'I could have just sniffed your consciousness, but I wanted to express my own thanks. If it weren't for you, Travis couldn't have ever overcome my eviler self and allowed me to be true. See, the Hatemongers have always hated werewolves' chance to escape their evil. So, they always set one or two on each wolf to power up their beast and make sure they lose.' He looked away, looking ashamed. 'Though it in turn makes a powerful enemy for the demons should the purification process be completed, as represented by my size, most of the time...us beasts are successful in capturing the body's controls, killing the rightful owner.' He shuddered, sending a ripple down his fur from face to tail before looking back up at me, smiling again. 'But the energy you gave Travis with your performance prevented such a kind young man from falling victim to lycanthropy, and for this, I thank you--not just for me being alive as I am today.'

I smirked and nodded. 'Just doing my job,' I told him.

He bowed his head, smiling amazingly adorably. 'I swear to assist Travis in his efforts as much as I can,' he promised. 'And, as a service to you in thanks, as well as a wise choice regardless, my slurp gave you an ability, as well.'

I raised my eyebrows and looked at my (now-dry) body. 'Really? What, can I turn into a wolf, too?' I asked.

He chuckled. 'No, but you can call one,' he answered. 'Me. If ever you want to communicate with me or Travis through me across the boundaries of space and time, you need only concentrate on the thought of talking to me before you fall asleep. It might take a bit of dream time, but you'll eventually remember and call me, instilling lucidity instantly. Just...' He sweatdropped and grinned sheepishly. 'Try to remember when you're presentable, since I'll be coming directly into the dream. And a climate place would be helpful, as well.'

I chuckled nervously at this. 'I...can't guarantee it,' I said, putting a hand behind my head. 'But thanks,' I nodded. 'I'll be sure to use it. Sounds like it'd come in handy.'

'Oh, I assure you, it will,' Jet said, giving a wolfish grin. 'Now, I shall REALLY proceed with searching your being for any traces of the demon. Try to amuse yourself, since this'll take a while.' He then stood and started to sniff, as if finding a trail, around the dark chamber of my inner self.

It took a while, but he found not a trace of the demon. He tilted his head in confusion. 'That's odd,' he muttered. 'Powerful as that final cheer was, there likely wasn't enough force to allow you to destroy it entirely. I thought we would have to exorcise you...'

'But I saw some bits of the demon enhancing my hatred fade back into my mind,' I protested. 'How can you not find it?'

He shook his head. 'It must have been your native hatred that you saw fade back. Did it appear duller than the demon?'

'Um...yeah, actually,' I answered, a bit surprised he knew that much, spirit or not.

'Then it was your own hatred,' he deducted. 'It's harmless. Well...you know what I mean,' he chuckled. He shrugged. 'But it would be nice to see why you got to defeat that thing entirely on your own.'

I nodded. 'That it would,' I agreed.

He smirked and lifted his snout a bit. 'I DID find something RELATED to the demons, though, left,' he said a bit sneakily.

I raised my eyebrows and started. 'Wh-WHA? What? I don't want it!!' I said, feeling a bit scared. 'I don't wanna get possessed again!'

Jet laughed, shaking his head. 'No, it's not that sort of related,' he assured me. 'It's related only in that it was used by the demons. It's actually a neutral power, one that is attributed to spirits, like me, and not heaven or hell. It is interesting that it remained within you.'

'What is it?' I asked.

He smiled and told me. I dropped my jaw. 'It is up to you whether you choose to explore its use or not,' he told me. 'I will leave it to you to learn how to use it.' He then leaned over and pressed my body very gently with his nose, rubbing as minisculy as he could. He NUZZLED me, making me, a happy dog owner, blush a little bit. 'And now, we part,' he said. 'You've been asleep for fourty-five minutes.'

'Yipe! I thought it'd only take an hour in the worst-case scenario!' I exclaimed. 'I gotta wake up and get going or I'll be even LATER!'

He smiled and chuckled. 'Well, for now, farewell,' he said.

'Toodles!' I waved. 'And thanks!'

'It was my pleasure.' He bowed as best as any dog could, then faded away. Seconds later, I woke up.

Later on, I eventually caught Kioshi and spoke with him about the journey. We sat and sipped sodas in the cafeteria. He told me about his experience and his reason for going, which was much like mine--duty. "I knew that I was able to help," he said, "and I was able to make good on that ability thanks to the portal. But..." He looked away, a bit embarrassed. "I...I couldn't do it on my own..." He sighed. "I was useless."

"You know why?" I asked, tilting my head and putting a hand on my chin. I let a finger brush against my peachfuzz mustache.

"Why?" he asked, looking back at me.

I smirked.

He gave a small "heh" as he smiled a little distantly. "You meant me when you mentioned confidence in yourself during the cheer, didn't you?" he asked. I nodded. He nodded. "I see now. After that, I thought about it and talked it over with my leader. He and the other Ouendan were of the same mind: I need to have more confidence in myself. I'm just a bit too modest; I have to be confident that I can deliver when others place their trust in me." He looked at his hands, which had so long been in white gloves. "My talent to cheer...I have to have more faith that I can succeed."

"And that's how your cheers become even better," I told him, smiling and nodding. I chuckled before my smile turned wry. "I actually think I'm the opposite of you. I, frankly, had more faith in myself than my teammates, and I felt a bit hypocritical that day when I said to have confidence in others."

He nodded vigorously. "Yes! You must ALWAYS trust your teammates while you're cheering someone on," he said. "That is, when you're alone, of course. See, when you're in a proper squad, you are able to reach out and pluck anyone out of trouble and set them on the right path, no matter how much trouble they are in. If you can't trust your partners to be able to do their jobs, then you can't do it right. As the lead, we have to have more faith than normal."

"And we also have to have more self-confidence," I added, waggling my finger and eyeing him, letting him glimpse my eye. "If we have to trust them to do their jobs, they have to trust us to ours, and if we don't trust ourselves, then it all might fall apart. Only the best of backups can carry on the cheer when their leader is gone, as Meyers and Hunter did when I was on the--" There I stopped, memory catching me. "...Fritz..."

We shared a moment of silence. (We had both watched the episodes of the other, so he knew of my encounter with the spiritual kind.)

"I am glad that you are truly humble," he told me. "Your overconfidence was brought out and enhanced, but your inner humility won out when you had to be serious."

I smiled faintly and nodded. "Yeah," I said. "...I guess I was just remembering how I noticed Fritz was not with Kelly during the cheer."

"He passed on. You helped him do that."

I nodded and felt compelled to pray for him briefly. After I did, I felt better again. "Haaahh, here I am, talking with a guy from the coolest country on Earth, and I'm getting all sentimental," I said, sounding humorous.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Heh, don't worry, that happens," he said.

We talked more about our journeys.

"What was the hardest part about your journey?"

"Walking around without knowing when we'll have to cheer someone on, if you're ever going to find the people you're after, or how many battles you'll have to face that day, all while keeping an eye out for places to rest and wearing a sweaty black outfit. You?"

"Ummm...either being possessed or having to dash at top speed all around the place to get to spots when our missions came up--even if they were miles away."

"What was the best part about your journey?"

"I guess maybe the fact I got to come face-to-face with pokémon, which I'm kinda tired of after so much work there and some minor aftereffects of when I was possessed, I'll admit."

"Mine was probably the relationships I formed with my backups and our pokémon friends, as well as with some of the targets."

"What was your favorite mission--er, cheer?"

"m-flo Loves Toku and DOUBLE, 'Life Is Beautiful', definitely, because Jazz music kicks absolute ass."

"Too right!"

*hand slap-grab*

"I also liked it because of the unique and powerful situation. It would've been bad if they'd gotten arrested, and she would've been condemned by their mother if she failed. I was glad they succeeded, though, and the mother was fine with it. What about you?"

"I think it was Bill Chase's 'Get It On', since, as well, it's Jazz, and because it was just so crazy. A lone man handling an oversized kangaskhan who actually was his girlfriend? You don't see THAT every day."

"And your least favorite?"

"Hmmm...I think Gwen Stefani's 'The Sweet Escape', though it was pretty hard to pick just one. I don't like that one because it was so late at night and I wanted to sleep. Sure, it was to help someone clear their name, but...yikes."

"Heh...Well, I think my least favorite was HYDE's 'SEASON'S CALL', because we were hot, cranky, HUNGRY, and it was not the best choice for the situation, not to mention it was the most boring of the songs I've cheered."

"Who do you want to meet again at least once?"

"I think I'm most concerned about Kagome and her charges, but I think that the kids are on the way to becoming Slashers...So...I think I'm worried most about the one target I didn't get to see be better."

"...Kotetsu."

We were silent for a moment. I sipped my drink before saying, "He turned out alright, actually. Didn't you watch that episode?"

Kioshi scoffed. "Have you seen any of yours?" he asked. "Watching yourself in a show, knowing you did things unscripted but with everything being shown as if it sort of was. Weird beyond belief."

I nodded. "I guess so." He looked inquiring, so I went on, "He ended up somewhere in a city, changed into a human. He found a girl and became friends with her. He doesn't remember anything about what happened."

He sighed in relief. "I'm glad," he said. "I still want to meet him again, though. Just to see."

"Well, for me, I think it's probably Sooteye."

"Sooteye?"

"Sooteye, the snorlax skater. TELL me that doesn't scream, 'What's he doing now?'. Besides, I want to see how safe him and the pack are, and how he and the Street Blazers got to be friends."

"Fair enough. Would you want to go back?"

"...Someday, that'd be cool, yeah. It was an adventure--you don't get to go on those every day."

"We kinda do, with cheers and missions. But I understand, and I agree. I want to explore that world and experience it fully."

"What about the final songs? Your thoughts?"

"It was the scariest cheer of my entire life. But, dammit, I wouldn't have run even if someone would have taken my place, no matter how unconfident I was. I wasn't about to let even ONE world fall victim to the Hatemongers. It was amazing, too--all of those people working together, using the fire we gave them to create a counter to the kind used by the demons. Truly phenomenal."

"The thing that sticks out in my mind is how I was suddenly aware of everything only after you pushed me aside."

He raised his eyebrows, and I raised one. "Nani?" he went.

I smirked. "I found myself inside my head and in front of my own hatred almost right after you got hit," I told him. "'I' being the real me, my consciousness that you're talking to right now. I was also able to defeat my possessor entirely and break free, something that was very unlikely given I was only empowered by the cheering of the crowd, according to Jet."

"Jet...Travis's beast, right?"

"Right."

"Well, I have a confession," Kioshi said, smirking. He grabbed the salt, poured a little into his pants pocket, then stood up. Then, he slowly went through what he did, and as he did, I imagined flashes of the actions he did on that day.

He first did the turning arrow stomp, and I visualized it: He turned towards me, one side facing away from Master JUST as his hand went by his gakuran pocket. As it did, in slow motion, I saw him reach in and grab a handful of salt. Then, he did the running hand clap. As he did, I saw him do it very carefully, using physics to hold the salt against his palm before switching which hand held it by tilting them just enough so that, as he ran forwards with hands out, the one holding the salt, now, went right for the eyes floating behind me.

"A-HAH!" I cried triumphantly, holding a finger up as he finished the reenactment and came back. I grinned. "You WEAKENED him and distracted him long enough for me to break free by hitting his eyes with the salt!"

He nodded, arms crossed. "Yes. I planned it with the others while the awards ceremony went on," he explained. "Travis had said that his parents' beasts had been enhanced by the demons. So, your own inner beast, so to speak, must have been enhanced. Since we couldn't cheer you on without looking like we were betraying the people, we instead thought to try hitting you with salt to at least weaken it and to give you a chance. I knew that Master would stop me if I wasn't surreptitious, so I came up with that little plan should the need arrive. I was glad you were right beside me, since it was the easiest one to do secretly. I'm also glad that Ash started to cheer you on, which apparently affected you in a fairly deep way...?"

I smiled. "Yeah, seeing someone still believe in you no matter what...it was moving, goody-two-shoes or not," I confirmed.

He nodded. "I'm just relieved that it worked," he said. "As Travis's episode coined, 'Behold the power of condiments.'" He smirked at this.

"Behold, indeed," I agreed.

We then talked about different things, then, and became good friends. We exchanged IM addresses before leaving off again.

The next day, we saw the hopefuls in uniform as they practiced once more. It appeared that they had found old gakurans for the pokémon, and had cut holes to allow them to wear them. They couldn't find any suitable shoes, but they were assured that they would receive custom-made ones should they succeed. Their gloves were fingerless and, for Dragonite and Ursaring, little more than glove-material socks with holes. The wannabe Agents were in Agent suits, full ones. Travis was told to wear his own pants, though, since he insisted on working in wolf form and we didn't want to waste money on a hole-backed pair of pants he might use only once.

And then the day came. We waited outside the doors of the briefing room before we were allowed in. When we came, I saw a broadly-grinning Travis, showing every one of his bright, white teeth.

"And now, Agents Lock, Meyers, Hunter," Kahn said as we came in and addressed him, "come forth and take these." We came up and took each a badge. "Present them to them."

"""YESSIR!""" We spun on our heel and walked over to the three. We stopped in front of our same-position prospective Agents and held out the badge. They each took it.

"And now I welcome you to the status of Elite Beat Agents..." Kahn said, pausing for effect. "...Agents Garret--" Dorian looked up. "--Turner--" Frank looked up. "--and..."

Travis grinned as his codename was announced, to nobody's surprise, "...Wolf!"

"""THANK YOU, SIR!""" they all said in unison.

"Now, then, about this new branch," Kahn said. "I have thought for a while and have decided on it. You will be allowed to consult with Starr, our resident designer, on uniforms, but your sect has been decided by me. So now, I am proud to declare you the first members of the EBA-P..." He narrowed his eyebrows as he clarified it.

"The Elite Beat Agents - Pocket Division!!"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

-

Kioshi waited patiently before he heard his leader call him and his friends in. They stepped in and found no spoiling expression on their pokémon friends' faces. "Kioshi! Suzu! Hibiki!" Doumeki Kai shouted.

They snapped to attention. """Hai, Doumeki-sama!"""

"Be ready!" Then, "Dragonite!"

"Hai, Doumeki-sama!"

"Feraligatr!"

"Hai, Doumeki-sama!"

"Ursaring!"

"Hai, Doumeki-sama!"

"You are not worthy of becoming Ouendan!"

At this, Kioshi froze. He knew Dragonite must have done the same behind him. 'But...But...!'

"How could you ever expect to be accepted as one who cheers with those moves? Begone, you disgraces to the Evening Ouendan!"

**"!"** Dragonite widened her eyes. "Doumeki-sama! We do not desire to be apart of either the Evening or Morning Ouendan!"

"You DON'T?!" Doumeki roared, fire flaring. Kioshi let a gulp go down quietly.

Seconds passed. Then,

"Why didn't you just say so?! Baka! Then why are you standing like teams you wish not to be?!"

"""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!!""" the three pokémon shouted. Then, as one, they changed their ready positions. Now, they stood at a variation of the To the Ready position from marching band. They cupped their right fist in their left paw, spread their legs the distance apart that Ouendan rest positions dictate, and looked up, ready.

Doumeki nodded curtly. "Now, you are MORE than qualified to become Ouendan of your own! Congratulations, Dragonite, Feraligatr, and Ursaring!" He looked at the humans. "IKUZE!"

"""HAI! IKUZE!!""" they shouted, skidding into position in front of them (all from one side since they couldn't do their normal thing from their former location). """SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!""" And the Ouendan anthem played as they did their practiced congratulatory routine. As they were trained, they repeated the anthem after the singing and watched the ones in front join in.

"IKOYA!"--""IKUZE!!""

"""SAN! NI! ICHI! SURE!!"""

The Pokédan copied their movements perfectly in their own style. At the end of the singing, they paused while Doumeki shouted, "WHO ARE YOU?"

""OSU!!""

""TATAKAE!!""

""OUENDAN!!""

_"HUH!"_ They thrust their fists out before standing at rest. Kioshi and the former Bluendan, still in Morning Town uniform, got out of the way.

"Speak with Lindhurst-san about your uniforms, as you cannot be Evening or Morning Ouendan if you are your own Ouendan, and decide upon your team's name!" commanded Doumeki. "You are also responsible for any new recruits! If you need to, then contact me or another trustworthy Ouendan and bring them. Good luck!" He thrust out his arm. "DISMISSED! OSU!"

"""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA! OSU!!""" They punched, too. Then, without another word, they filed out of the room they were allowed to use.

"You are dismissed, as well!" Doumeki told the humans.

"""HAI, DOUMEKI-SAMA!""" And they left, as well.

Kioshi ducked as soon as he exited the room, feeling the fwoosh of air above him as the orange, cap-wearing Dragon-type soared in a glomp. He laughed as she landed on the floor in a slamming grunt, sliding on her front a bit. She jumped up and turned, glaring, before laughing, too. "Good job, Dragonite!" Kioshi complimented, coming over and hugging, this time. "You'll make a great Ouendan!"

"Thanks, Kioshi," she said gently. While speaking normally, her voice was deep, as dragonites' voices usually are, but still obviously feminine. "I'll do my best!"

"You'd better, otherwise you'll have a heck of a hit on your conscience," Kioshi warned, smirking.

Dragonite smiled at him, blushing a bit. "I'll never forget you, Kioshi," she told him. "Thank you for everything."

"Not a problem," Kioshi welcomed. "Now, then, why don't we all get some lunch?" he suggested.

"I SO second that!" Ursaring said, raising his arm in approval.

- - -

Full Story Playlist:

0. (Prologue, Extra) School Gym: **-:-School Haze! Worst Presentation EVER!!-:-** Yellowcard – Lights and Sounds

1. Brett: **-:-Surf's Up! Find the Lost Love through the Storm!!-:-** Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue

2. (Bonus) Julian: **-:-End of the Sweet Dreams? Save the Shop!!-:-** Christina Aguilera – Candyman

3. Ash: **-:-Team Rocket Strikes Again!! Mission in Another World?!-:-** OK Go – Here it Goes Again

4. Kojiro: **-:-Break Tradition!! Will Both Parties Be Happy?-:-** FLOW – GO!!

5. Charizard (OT: Ash): **-:-Use the Anger! Rescue Those Who Scorned You!!-:-** Bivattchee – Taiyou no Mannaka he

6. Travis: **-:-Supernatural Frightfest! No Winchesters Here!!-:-** The Faders – No Sleep Tonight

7. Marin: **-:-Breakout!! Make Like Shawshank and Then Some!!-:-** Gwen Stefani ft. Akon – The Sweet Escape

8. (Bonus) Erin, Paul, and Eliza: **-:-Forward March!! One Time at Band Camp!!-:-** The All-American Rejects – Move Along

9. Benishirina: **-:-Defend the Spring!! Can Both Relationships Be Saved?-:-** HYDE – SEASON'S CALL

10. Sooteye: **-:-A Truly Extreme Challenge!! Skate For Your Home-:-** Smash Mouth – All Star

11. Rosa: **-:-Go For the Sky-borne Heart! A Battle to Earn Friendship?-:-** Izawa Asami – FLY AWAY

12. Nozomi: **-:-Housewife Woes! Crash Course in Parenting!!-:-** Kimura Kaela – happiness!!!

13. (Extra) Rebecca: **-:-Party Poopers!! Stop the Chaos!!-:-** Vengaboys – We Like to Party!

14. (Bonus) Cecil: **-:-Supermarket Situation! Be Brave and Prove It!!-:-** Scapegoat Wax – Aisle 10 (Hello Allison)

15. (Unofficial) (Zante): **-:-So, You Want to Be an Agent? Free Your Inhibitions and ROCK!!-:-** FerreTrip – Let Loose

16. Kagome: **-:-There's More to Life!! Will They Listen for Once?-:-** m-flo Loves Toku and DOUBLE – Life Is Beautiful

17. Fritz (and Kelly): **-:-An Unwritten Letter-:-** Seal – Kiss From a Rose

18. (Bonus) Antonio, Lenore, and Johnny: **-:-Lycantastrophy! Fight for Your Lives!!-:-** Hoobastank – Without a Fight (Full Version)

19. (Secret) Kotetsu: **-:-Break Free! Can a One-Day-Old Escape Fate?-:-** BEAT CRUSADERS – GHOST

20. Abe: **-:-Oh, Snap, It's the 5-O! Playing Cops and Monsters!!-:-** Bill Chase – Get It On

21. Jessie, James, and Meowth (and Wobbuffet): **-:-Get to Work! A Steel Ball between Two Magnets!!-:-** Hikaru Utada– KEEP TRYIN'

22. Both Worlds: **-:-The Grand Finale?! Two Worlds' Last Shot!! Part 1-:-** Yoko Kanno – RISE

23. Both Worlds: **-:-The Grand Finale?! Two Worlds' Last Shot!! Part 2-:-** Aqua (Barbie Young remix) – Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix)

**FINAL COUNT:**

Agents: 15 + 1

Ouendan: 10

Our Hard-Working Agent and Ouendan Teams and Their Mission(s)/Cheer(s)

Agents J, Morris, and Derek: 0

Gregory, Jordan, and Barry: 0

Agents Lock, Meyers, and Hunter: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 17, 20, 23

Agents Meyers and Hunter (duet): 22

Agents Chieftain, Morris, and Derek: 13

Travis, Frank, and Dorian: 15, 18(, 23)

Kioshi, Saito, and Suzuki: 4

Kioshi (solo): 5, 22

Kioshi, Suzu, and Hibiki: 5, 9, 11, 12, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23

Dragonite, Feraligatr, and Ursaring: (23)

Probable Official Game Playlist (Songs Only):

1. happiness!!! - Ouendan

2. Ocean Avenue - Agents

3. SEASON'S CALL - Ouendan

4. Taiyou no Mannaka he - Ouendan

5. The Sweet Escape - Agents

6. Here It Goes Again - Agents

7. KEEP TRYIN' - Ouendan

8. All Star - Agents

9. Life Is Beautiful - Ouendan

10. No Sleep Tonight - Agents

11. FLY AWAY - Ouendan

12. Kiss From a Rose - Agents

13. GO!! - Ouendan

14. Get It On - Agents

15. RISE – 3 Ouendan-2 Agents-1 Ouendan

16. Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix) - Agents and Ouendan

B1. Move Along - Agents

B2. Candyman - Agents

B3. Without a Fight (Full Version) - Agents

AAAAAAAND that's a WRAP! WHOO!! It's OVER!! THANK you for reading this story, all those who have. It's been a long, weird journey, starting with fantasy missions, and ended up becoming a labor of love, especially in these last chapters. I hope to God that this has all helped me with my short story skills--I mean, Get It On was actually a short story for class. Too long, though, still. I need to learn to shut the heck up. But, anyway, I wanna thank you and tell you that, yes, there is more. But it's a different fic, not this one, for my sanity. Please keep an eye out for it! I'll update my profile with news of it, don't worry.

What I mean with that second playlist is I think that that's the way it'd go (at least the songs, not necessarily the missions/cheers) in the actual game this would be in if it were to be a real game. That would mean only 19 songs—fourteen normal, two final, and three bonus—easiest-to-hardest order, and, during the game, shortened or lengthened parts and possible tempo changes. I had to eliminate the extra (and secret) song(s), the (as yet) fake song, and the most questionable song. I am actually very surprised at how well-balanced it came out (save for the bonus songs). This is, of course, for pretending purposes. The REAL game would have every song, every situation, every team used, everything.

I will consider writing a little, say, "HoloJam Room Chronicles," a pseudo-fic that follows what happens when things go wrong—any 50-/X-induced progress scenes I skipped in the main fic for sake of story flow or (mostly) laziness, the ---(X)--- scenes, the mediocre and all-X endings, and the failure sequences. It is purely for the sake of humor and entertainment and to see if I can actually fulfill my desire to design my own EBA/Ouendan game. If you're interested, please check it out if I do it!

Wow…to think I've come all this way after being inspired from seeing and posting on a make-your-own-stage thread on GameFAQs. I'd like to thank that thread, Nintendo Power for telling me about EBA, Wal*Mart for letting me try the download that I played over and over, regardless of how short it was, YouTube for supplying many of the songs, the many sites I got the lyrics from when available, for giving me a place to show people my writing efforts, ALL OF MY WONDERFUL REVIEWERS WHO DESERVE BOXES AND BOXES OF COOKIES *heart*, and, of course, iNiS and Nintendo/GAME FREAK for making such awesome game worlds. Now, then, if anyone from iNiS is reading, GET GOING ON A NEW GAME, ALREADY!! Your fans are feebly writing their own games (not literally, I think)!! I also, if I ever get to be able to play it *glares at computer's inferior graphics card*, osu! for giving me the chance to make my dream a reality, as well as others to play more songs using this awesome game. I WILL make the episodes as faithfully as I can, and will even try to write a program for a squad if need be to provide the full experience, if I get the chance. Customization is my blood. :D

Thank you again! Now go and read a better fanfic, already!! ;P

See ya!

--FerreTrip

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"...Interesting report."

"What shall we do?"

"Need you ask?" A clipboard, tossed away, lands on the dark, black-tiled floor with a clatter. Attached is what appears to be, for all the world, a DS game card with the words "Insert Game Title Here" in brackets as title, and "Gotta Cheer 'em All!" as subtitle. A few papers are attached, as well. One of the top papers read, "View attached memory card."

"Then when?"

"No later than normal."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Very funny."

"More wrenches may be tossed into our plans..."

"...but it will be worth it."

The clipboard is picked up by a black glove. "I will tell the Bravest Soldier that his are the only ones left."

"Which is what I would do."

"To your work."

"And yours."

...

"...At least we now know that we need not worry about that boy, after all."


End file.
